GIFT   OF 
JANE  K.SATHER 


RASMUS  B.  ANDERSON. 


THE 
KIRST  CHAPTBR 

OF 

NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION, 

(1831— 1840) 

ITS  CAUSES  AND  RESULTS. 


WITH  r    t 

AN  INTRODUCTION 

ON 

THE  SERVICES  RENDERED  BY  THE  SOATONAVIAXS  TO 
THE  WORLD  A^D  TO  AMERICA. 


BY 

RASMUS   B.  ANDERSON,  LL.  D., 

EX-UNITED    STATES   MINISTER  TO   DENMARK;    AUTHOR   OF    "  NORSB 

MYTHOLOGY,"    "AMERICA   NOT  DISCOVERED   BY 

COLUMBUS,"    AND   OTHER   WORKS. 


FOURTH   EDITION. 


MADTSON,  WISCONSIN: 
FUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

1906 


COPYRIGHT,  1895,  BY 
RASMUS    B.    ANDERSON. 

ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED. 


MY    FATHER    AND    MOTHER 

WERE    AMONG    THE    IMMIGRANTS    WHO 

LANDED  IN  AMERICA  IN   1836 

AND 

TO    THEIR    MEMORY 
I    DEDICATE   THIS    VOLUME. 

RASMUS  Ii.  AMUJCKSON. 


469904 


The  greater  part  of  the  contents  of  this  vol 
ume  has  never  before  appeared  in  any  book  and 
much  of  it  appears  now  for  the  first  time  in 
print. 

To  gather  the  materials  for  this  work  I  have 
traveled  hundreds  of  miles  to  interview  old  set 
tlers;  I  have  written  hundreds  of  letters  in  or 
der  to  secure  facts,  and  I  have  also  examined  all 
the  printed  documents  within  my  reach. 

More  than  fifty  years  have  come  and  gone 
since  the  time  with  which  this  book  ends,  and  of 
those  who  assisted  in  founding  the  first  half 
dozen  Norwegian  settlements  there  are  but  few 
living  now.  They  kept  no  journals  or  records 
of  the  events,  and  the'memories  of  old  men  are 
sometimes  treacherous.  The  author  himself, 
though  a  son  of  one  of  the  early  immigrants, 
was  not  born  until  after  the  first  chapter  of  Nor 
wegian  immigration  had  been  completed,  and 
hence  the  difficulty  of  presenting  absolutely  re 
liable  information  is  manifest. 

The  critical  reader  may  find  some  inaccura- 


VI  PREFACE. 

cies  and  some  conflicting  statements,  and  I  shall 
be  greatly  obliged  to  him  if  he  will  make  the 
necessary  corrections  either  publicly  or  in  pri 
vate  communications  to  me,  in  order  that  I  may 
make  the  necessary  corrections  in  future  edi 
tions  of  this  book.  The  reader  will  also  find  a 
number  of  repetitions.  The  author  would  have 
been  pleased  to  eliminate  many  of  these,  but 
as  the  book  is  written  mainly  for  plain  people 
it  was  thought  better  to  repeat  some  of  the 
things  that  had  already  been  told  than  to  be 
continually  referring  the  reader  to  some  other 
part  of  the  volume.  The  aim  has  been  to  give 
as  full  an  account  as  possible  of  each  of  the 
six  separate  settlements,  and  as  will  be  seen 
the  same  persons  sometimes  appear  among  the 
pioneers  of  more  than  one  settlement.  It 
seemed  better  to  restate  some  of  the  facts  in 
regard  to  such  persons  than  to  refer  the  reader 
back  to  other  pages  of  the  book. 

Doubtless  there  are  many  names  omitted, 
that  ought  to  have  been  mentioned,  and  some  of 
those  introduced  may  have  been  given  more 
prominence  than  they  are  entitled  to;  but  the 
reason  for  this  is  the  author's  inability  to  see 
with  sufficient  clearness  through  the  veil  of 
time  that  covers  the  first  epoch  of  emigration 
from  Norway. 


PREFACE.  Vil 

The  sketches  of  pioneers  are  not  well  bal 
anced.  Some  are  long,  while  others  are  very 
short.  This  could  not  be  avoided.  In  some  in 
stances  I  have  been  able  to  secure  tolerably  full 
accounts  of  persons,  while  in  other  cases  my 
materials  have  been  most  meager,  and  some 
times  the  facts  are  exceedingly  limited,  where 
much  information  would  seem  to  be  desirable. 
All  such  blemishes  I  must  beg  the  reader  to  ex 
cuse.  In  spite  of  every  effort  it  has  in  some 
cases  been  almost  impossible  to  get  more  than 
the  bare  names  of  persons.  In  many  instances 
I  have  been  unable  to  get  into  communication 
with  descendants,  and  then  again  the  descend 
ants  have  not  been  in  possession  of  the  neces 
sary  records.  In  this  connection  I  would  like 
to  impress  upon  my  readers  the  importance 
of  keeping  good  family  records  for  the  benefit 
of  their  descendants  and  of  future  historians. 

While  I  make  the  first  chapter  of  Norwegian 
immigration  end  with  the  year  1840,  when  we 
find  the  Norwegians  located  in  six  settlements 
that  became  permanent,  I  have  thought  best 
to  add  to  this  a  short  sketch  of  Norwegian  set 
tlements  in  Texas,  and  also  a  brief  account  of 
the  first  religious  work  done  among  the  Nor 
wegian  immigrants.  I  describe  the  Texas  set 
tlements  down  to  1850,  and  trace  the  religioir 


PREFACE. 

work  in  the  settlements  down  to  the  dedication 
of  the  first  three  Norwegian  Lutheran  churches 
in  1844  and  1845. 

There  are  so  many  to  whom  I  am  under  obli 
gations  for  assistance  in  preparing  this  volume, 
that  I  shrink  from  undertaking  an  enumeration 
of  them  for  fear  that  I  might  forget  some  of 
those  that  ought  to  be  mentioned.  My  obliga 
tions  to  what  has  been  published  by  Ole  Byn- 
ning,  Johan  Keinert  Keierson,  J.  W.  C.  Dietrich- 
son,  Svein  Mlson,  Knud  Langland  and  others, 
have  been  expressed  in  the  body  of  the  work 
and  will  be  clear  to  every  intelligent  reader;  but 
there  are  a  host  of  others  with  whom  I  have 
been  in  constant  correspondence  and  while  I 
do  not  mention  them  by  name  in  this  preface, 
they  know,  I  think,  how  grateful  I  feel  toward 
them  for  their  services.  But  for  their  kind  as 
sistance  the  publication  of  this  work  would 
have  been  an  impossibility. 

No  one  can  be  more  conscious  than  I  am  of 
the  shortcomings  of  this  volume,  and  for  these 
I  must  appeal  to  the  generosity  of  the  reader. 
All  I  can  say  f  ^r  myself  is  that  I  have  done  as 
faithful  work  as  the  circumstances  would  per 
mit.  Twenty  years  ago  I  could  have  rescued 
much  that  is  now  irretrievably  lost  to  history. 
For  a  history  of  the  Norwegians  in  America 


PREFACE.  IX 

from  1840  down  to  the  present  the  materials 
are  more  abundant,  and  I  am  happy  to  add  that 
besides  being  still  remembered  by  those  living, 
they  are  better  preserved  in  written  and  printed 
documents. 

By  postponing  the  publication  of  this  volume 
a  few  years,  I  have  no  doubt  I  could  improve  it 
in  some  respects;  but  delays  are  dangerous,  and 
so  I  now  give  it  to  the  public  with  the  hope  that 
it  will  not  be  found  utterly  without  value. 

KASMUS  B.  ANDERSON. 
Mateo^  Wi&,  Marcii  28*  1895. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Page 

SERVICES  RENDERED  BY   THE    SCANDINAVIANS   TO 
THE  WORLD  AND  TO  AMERICA 1 

I. 
STATISTICS 37 

II. 
CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 45 

III. 
THE  SLOOP  RESTAURATIONEN 54 

IV. 
^HE  FIRST  NORWEGIAN  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA..     77 

V. 
THE  SLOOP  PARTY 91 

VI. 
FROM  1825  TO  1836 132 

VII. 
THE  EXODUS  OF  1836 146 

VIII. 
THE  SECOND  NORWEGIAN  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA.  170 


Xll  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

IX. 

Page. 
KLENO  PEERSON 179 

X. 
THE  THIRD  NORWEGIAN  SETTLEMENT 194 

XI. 
THE  EXODUS  OP  1837 195 

XII. 
THE  BEAVER  CREEK  SETTLEMENT 198 

XIII. 
OLE  RYNNINQ 202 

XIV. 
OTHER  PIONEERS  OF  1837 219 

XV. 
THE  FOURTH  NORWEGIAN  SETTLEMENT 237 

XVI. 
THE   FIFTH  NORWEGIAN  SE  ;  TLE^ENT 266 

XVII. 
THE  ADLAND  FAMILY 284 

XVIII. 
OTHER  EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  MUSKEGO 290 

XIX. 
REV.   C.  L.  CLAUSEN..  .   296 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS.  xiil 

XX. 

JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEE 300 

XXI. 
THE  SIXTH  NORWEGIAN  SETTLEMENT 328 

XXII. 
MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS 356 

XXIII. 
CAPT.  HANS  FRIIS 360 

XXIV. 
RETROSPECT i 364 

XXV. 
TEXAS. 

JOHAN  REINERT  REIERSON 370 

XXVI. 
ELISE  W^ERENSKJOLD 379 

XXVII. 
OLE  CANUTESON 386 

•    xxvui. 

RESUME 395 

XXIX. 

RELIGIOUS  WORK  AMONG-  THE  NORWEGIANS 
IN  AMERICA  DOWN  TO  THE  YEAR  1845. 

INTRODUCTORY..  .   396 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

XXX. 
THE  MORMONS 399 

XXXI. 
OLE  OLSON  HETLETVEDT  AND  OTHERS 408 

XXXII. 
ELLING  EIELSON 410 

XXXIII. 
JOHN  G.  SMITH,  OLE  CONSULEN,  G.  UNONIUS 414 

XXXIV. 
C.  L.  CLAUSEN 416 

XXXV. 
THE  FIRST  CONTROVERSY  AMONG  THE  NORWEGIAN 

LUTHERANS  IN  AMERICA 420 

XXXVI. 
J.  W.   C.    DIETRICH&ON 423 

XXXVII. 
LIST  OF   LEADERS 429 

XXXVIII. 
PIONEER  LIFE 432 

APPENDIX. 
BRIEF  SKETCH  OP  THE  AUTHOR..  .  444 


INTRODUCTION. 


Services  Rendered  by  the  Scandinavians  to  the 
World  and  to  America. 


Scandinavians  is  a  term  used  to  designate  the 
inhabitants  of  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and 
Iceland.  In  the  early  centuries,  that  is,  during 
the  so-called  Viking  age,  they  are  usually 
treated  as  one  people  under  the  common  name 
of  Northmen  or  Norsemen,  but  as  we  proceed 
into  the  full  daylight  of  history,  it  gradually  be 
comes  customary  to  discuss  the  Scandinavians 
separately,  as  Norwegians,  Swedes,  Danes  and 
Icelanders.  Thus,  wrhile  we  designate  the  old 
asa-faith  of  the  Scandinavians  as  Norse  myth 
ology,  we  are  expected  to  know  to  which  of  the 
four  countries  a  modern  c?lebrity  or  institution 
belongs.  It  is  necessary  to  say  the  Swedish 
singer,  Jenny  Lind;  the  Norwegian  violinist, 
Die  Bull;  the  Danish  story-teller,  Hans  Chris 
tian  Andersen,  and  the  Icelandic  lexicographer, 
Gudbrand  Vigfusson. 


2  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

The  total  number  of  Scandinavians,  including 
those  who  have  emigrated  during  this  century, 
is  probably  less  than  11,000,000;  4,775,000  in 
Sweden,  2,300,000  (including  70,000  Icelanders) 
in  Denmark,  1,800,000  in  Norway,  and,  say, 
2,000,000  in  America,  the  British  colonies  and 
other  countries. 

But  though  they  be  few  in  number,  they  in 
herit  considerable  renown.  Though  confined 
to  the  more  or  less  inhospitable  northwest  cor 
ner  of  Europe,  they  have  rendered  the  world 
some  services,  the  memory  of  which  will  not 
willingly  be  allowed  to  perish.  In  Iceland  they 
have  preserved  and  still  speak  one  of  the  oldest 
of  the  Teutonic  languages,  a  monument  of  the 
Viking  age,  which  still  furnishes  the  means  of 
illustrating  many  of  the  social  and  political 
features  of  those  remote  times,  and  is  held  in 
deserved  veneration  by  all  the  great  philolo 
gists  of  our  day.  In  the  Icelandic  tongue  we 
have  a  group  of  sagas,  a  literature  which  in 
many  respects  is  unique,  and  which  sheds  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  customs  and  manners 
of  the  dark  centuries  of  the  middle  age.  The 
Icelandic  sagas  tell  us  not  only  of  what  hap 
pened  in  Scandinavia,  but  they  also  describe 
conditions  and  events  in  England,  France,  Kus- 
sia  and  elsewhere.  We  are  indebted  to  the 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  3 

Scandinavians  for  the  eddas,  for  Saxo  Gram- 
maticus,  and  for  various  other  sources  of  infor 
mation  in  regard  to  the  grand  and  beautiful 
mythology  of  our  ancestors.  Our  knowledge  of 
the  old  Teutonic  religion  would  have  been 
very  scanty  indeed,  had  not  the  faithful  old 
Norsemen  given  us  a  record  of  it  on  parchment. 
The  grand  mythological  system  conceived  and 
developed  by  the  poetic  and  imaginative  child 
hood  of  the  Scandinavians  commands  the  atten 
tion  of  the  scholars  of  all  lands,  and  as  we  enter 
the  solemn  halls  and  palaces  of  the  old  Norse 
gods  and  goddesses,  where  all  is  cordiality  and 
purity,  we  find  there  perfectly  reflected  the  wild 
and  tumultuous  conflict  of  the  robust  northern 
climate  and  scenery,  strong,  rustic  pictures,  full 
of  earnest  and  deep  thought,  awe-inspiring  and 
wonderful.  We  find  in  the  eddas  of  Iceland 
that  simple  and  martial  religion  which  inspired 
the  early  Scandinavians  and  developed  them 
like  a  tree  full  of  vigor,  extending  long  branches 
over  all  Europe.  We  find  that  simple  and  mar 
tial  religion,  which  gave  the  Scandinavians  that 
restless,  inconquerable  spirit,  apt  to  take  fire 
at  the  very  mention  of  subjection  or  restraint, 
that  religion  by  which  instruments  were  forged 
to  break  the  fetters  manufactured  by  the  Ko- 
man  Caesars,  to  destroy  tyrants  and  slaves,  and 


4  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

to  teach  the  world  that  nature,  having  made  all 
men  and  women  free  and  equal,  no  other  reason 
but  their  mutual  happiness  could  be  assigned 
for  their  government.  We  will  find  that  sim 
ple  and  martial  religion,  which  was  cherished 
by  those  vast  multitudes,  which,  as  Milton  says, 
the  populous  North 

*    *    *    poured  from  her  frozen  loins  to  pass 
Rhene  or  the  Danaw,  when  her  barbarous  sons 
Came  like  a  deluge  on  the  South  and  spread 
Beneath  Gibraltar  and  the  Libyan  sands. 

During  the  Viking  age  we  find  the  Scandina 
vians  everywhere.  They  came  in  large  swarms 
to  France,  England  and  Spain.  During  the 
crusades  they  led  the  van  of  the  chivalry  of 
Europe  in  rescuing  the  holy  sepulcher;  they 
passed  through  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  devas 
tated  the  classic  fields  of  Greece  and  penetrated 
the  walls  of  Constantinople.  Straying  far  into 
the  East,  we  find  them  laying  the  foundations 
of  the  Russian  empire,  and  swinging  their  two- 
edged  battle  axes  in  the  streets  of  Constanti 
nople,  where  they  served  as  captains  of  the 
Greek  emperor's  body  guard,  and  the  chief  sup 
port  of  his  tottering  throne.  They  ventured  out 
upon  the  surging  main  and  discovered  Iceland, 
Greenland  and  the  American  continent,  thus 
becoming  the  discoverers,  not  only  of  America, 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  5 

but  also  of  pelagic  navigation.  The  Vikings 
were  the  first  navigators  to  venture  out  of  sight 
of  land.  And  everywhere  they  scattered  the 
seeds  of  liberty,  independence  and  culture. 
They  brought  to  France  that  germ  of  liberty 
that  was  planted  in  the  soil  of  Normandy, 
where  the  Normans  adopted  the  French  tongue 
and  were  the  first  to  produce  and  spread  abroad 
a  vernacular  literature;  that  germ  of  liberty 
which,  when  brought  to  England,  budded  in  the 
Magna  Charta  and  Bill  of  Rights  and  which,  in 
course  of  time,  was  carried  in  the  Mayflower  to 
America,  where  it  developed  full-blown  flowers 
in  our  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  Scandinavians  in  Denmark,  Sweden,  Nor 
way  and  Iceland  gave  a  hearty  reception  to  the 
gospel  and  preserved  its  teachings  for  many 
centuries  free  from  Romish  corruption.  In  the 
Swedish  ruler,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  protestant 
ism  found  one  of  its  most  efficient  and  valiant 
defenders.  The  Scandinavians  are  still  faith 
ful  to  the  banner  of  protestantism.  They  are 
distinguished  for  the  earnestness  of  their  re 
ligious  worship,  for  their  ardent  advocacy  of 
the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  for 
the  well-nigh  total  absence  of  great  crimes. 
Wherever  they  settle  in  the  world,  we  find  them 
associated  with  the  most  loyal  and  law-abiding 


6  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

citizens,  giving  their  best  energies  to  culture, 
law  and  order.  Proofs  of  this  statement  are 
abundant  both  in  Russia,  Normandy  and  Eng 
land,  and  in  their  more  recent  settlements  in 
the  various  Western  states  of  America. 

As  stated,  they  have  enriched  the  world  with 
a  whole  class  of  literature,  which  is  held  in  de 
served  respect.  Is  not  Beowulf,  the  most  im 
portant  surviving  monument  of  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry,  a  Swedish  and  Danish  poem?  And  was 
it  not  first  published  from  the  British  Museum 
manuscript  by  the  great  Danish  scholar,  G.  J. 
Thorkelin?  And  is  not  the  world  indebted  to 
Denmark  and  her  traditions  for  Hamlet,  the 
hero  of  the  greatest  drama  written  by  the  im 
mortal  Shakspere?  In  Saxo,  Hamlet  was  found 
as  the  son  of  the  viceroy,  Horvendel,  in  Jutland, 
and  of  Gerude,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Rerek, 
king  at  Leire,  in  Seland,  Denmark. 

The  Scandinavians  present  to  all  oppressed 
nationalities  the  gratifying  example  of  a  people, 
who,  being  true  to  their  countries  and  to  the 
traditions  handed  down  from  the  mists  of  ages 
in  the  far  past,  have  vindicated  for  themselves 
against  many  opposing  and  oppressing  powers, 
and  in  the  midst  of  many  obstacles  and  vicissi 
tudes,  their  distinctive  rights  and  liberties. 
A  mere  glance  at  the  history  of  Scandinavia  is 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  7 

sufficient  to  reveal  to  the  student  many  events 
and  the  names  of  many  individuals  of  far-reach 
ing  importance. 

I  have  already  enumerated  a  few  of  the  many 
services  rendered  to  the  world  by  the  Scandi 
navians  of  antiquity,  and  in  this  connection  I 
may  be  permitted  to  mention  some  of  the  Scan 
dinavians  who  in  more  recent  times  have 
achieved  world-wide  fame.  I  do  this  with  a 
view  of  demonstrating  the  fact  that  the  Scandi 
navians,  though  comparatively  few  in  number, 
easily  rank  with  the  most  prominent  nations  in 
the  domains  of  science,  art  and  literature. 

There  is  the  great  Danish  astronomer,  Tycho 
Brahe,  one  of  the  most  marked  individuals  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  From  his  Uranienborg 
obseravtory  his  fame  spread  throughout  Eu 
rope,  and  the  little  island  near  Elsinore  became 
the  try  sting-place  of  savants  from  all  lands. 
Even  kings  and  princes  did  not  think  it  beneath 
their  dignity  to  make  pilgrimages  to  the  isle  of 
Hveen.  Brahe  made  his  name  immortal 
through  his  services  to  astronomy.  For  thirty 
years  he  made  regular  and  careful  observations 
in  regard  to  the  movements  of  the  planets,  and 
it  was  only  on  the  foundation  of  his  vast  pre 
liminary  labors,  which  in  accuracy  surpassed 


8  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

all  that  practical  astronomy  had  previously 
achieved,  that  Keppler  was  able  to  produce  his 
celebrated  theories  and  laws.  With  perfect  jus 
tice,  it  has  been  said,  that  Tycho  Brahe  made 
the  observations,  that  Keppler  discovered  the 
law,  and  that  Newton  conceived  the  nature  of 
the  law. 

Geology  is  at  the  present  time  a  most  highly 
developed  science,  but  its  devotees  should  not 
forget  that  the  world's  first  geologist  was  the 
Dane,  Niels  Stensen,  who  was  born  in  1638. 
He  was  not  only  the  most  celebrated  anatomist 
of  his  time,  but  he  also  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  science  of  geognosy  and  geology  by  study 
ing  the  mountain  formations  and  examining  the 
fossils  of  Italy,  and  the  result  of  his  investi 
gations  were  embodied  in  his  "De  Solido  intra 
solidum  naturaliter  contento  dissertationis  pro- 
dromus,"  a  work  which  may  rightly  be  regarded 
as  the  corner  stone  of  geological  science. 

Archaeology  serves  as  a  magnificent  tele 
scope  by  which  we  are  able  to  contemplate 
social  conditions  far  beyond  the  ken  of  ordinary 
historical  knowledge,  and  this  valuable  science 
was  born  and  cradled  in  Denmark  and  Sweden, 
where  the  renowned  Dane,  Christian  Thomson, 
and  the  Swede,  Sven  Nilsson  laid  the  founda- 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  9 

tion  of  the  systematic  study  of  all  the  weapons, 
implements  and  ornaments  gathered  from  pre 
historic  times. 

Then  we  have  the  science  called  comparative 
philology.  Where  did  it  begin?  Who  unrav 
elled  its  first  complicated  threads?  The  answer 
comes  from  every  philologist  in  the  world.  It 
shed  its  first  rays  in  Denmark,  and  there  Has- 
mils  Rask  discovered  those  laws  and  principles 
upon  which  the  comparative  study  of  languages 
is  built.  Rask  found  the  laws  and  they  were 
used  as  the  corner  stone  of  that  beautiful  and 
symmetrical  pyramid  which  has  since  been  con 
structed  by  the  brothers  Grimm,  by  Max  Miiller, 
by  our  own  W.  D.  Whitney  and  by  many  other 
famous  linguists,  to  take  the  place  of  that  tower 
of  Babel,  which  the  old  linguistic  students  had 
built  with  their  clumsy  hands  and  poor  mate 
rials.  In  this  connection  I  may  also  mention 
the  Dane,  J.  N.  Madvig,  the  greatest  Latin 
scholar  of  this  century,  a  scholar  who  created  a 
new  epoch  in  the  study  of  the  old  Greek  and 
Latin  texts.  The  scholars  of  all  lands  accept 
his  views  as  final. 

He  who  would  write  the  history  of  electricity, 
must  study  the  life  of  the  great  Dane,  H.  C.  Oer 
sted.  His  discovery  in  1820,  of  electro-magnet 
ism — the  identity  of  electricity  and  magnetism 


10  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

—which  he  not  only  discovered,  but  demon 
strated  incontestably,  placed  him  at  once  in  the 
highest  rank  of  physical  philosophers  and  he 
thus  led  the  way  to  all  the  wonders  of  this 
subtle  force.  He  supplied  the  knowledge  by 
which  Morse  was  enabled  to  build  the  first  tel 
egraph  line,  and  he  is  in  fact  the  father  of  Morse, 
Edison,  Tesla  and  of  that  brilliant  galaxy  of 
men  who  have  astonished  the  world  by  all  their 
wonderful  inventions  in  the  domain  of  electri 
city. 

The  celebrated  Danish  atronomer,  Ole  Romer, 
born  September  25,  1644,  was  the  first  man  to 
calculate  the  velocity  of  light  (in  1675),  and  this 
fact  marks  a  new  era  in  scientific  research.  The 
numerous  instruments  which  he  devised  gave 
him  the  name  of  "The  Danish  Archimedes." 

Suppose  we  cross  the  sound  and  enter  the 
territory  of  Sweden.  There  we  at  once  dis 
cover  the  polar  star  in  the  science  of  botany,  in 
the  name  of  Carl  von  Linn6.  In  his  24th  year 
he  established  the  celebrated  sexual  system  in 
plants,  whereby  the  chaos  of  the  botanical 
world  was  reduced  to  order  and  a  fruitful  study 
of  botany  was  made  possible.  His  extensive  in 
vestigations  rightly  secured  him  the  title  of  the 
king  of  botanists.  As  Linn6  became  the  father 
of  botany,  so  another  Swede,  Carl  W.  Scheele, 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  11 

might  be  called  the  founder  of  the  present  sys 
tem  of  chemistry.  He  is  one  of  the  greatest  or 
naments  of  science,  and  the  world  is  indebted 
to  him  for  the  discovery  of  many  new  elemen 
tary  principles  and  valuable  chemical  combi 
nations  now  in  general  use. 

Hardly  less  conspicuous  is  J.  J.  Berzelius, 
the  contemporary  of  Scheele.  Like  the  latter 
Berzelius  published  a  number  of  works,  the 
most  of  which  contained  capital  discoveries, 
either  the  explanation  of  a  phenomenon  or  re 
action  previously  misunderstood,  or  the  de 
scription  of  some  new  element  or  compound. 
The  discoveries  made  by  Scheele  and  Berzelius 
in  the  domain  of  chemistry  are  most  important, 
but  too  numerous  to  mention  in  this  paper. 
Berzelius  also  devoted  himself  to  mineralogy 
and  published  his  "Treatise  on  the  Blow  Pipe," 
and  he  set  up  for  himself  a  regularly  graduated 
system  of  minerals,  the  value  of  which  was  felt 
to  be  so  great  that  the  Royal  Society,  of  London, 
voted  him  its  gold  medal  for  it.  Scheele  unfor 
tunately  died  at  only  54  years  of  age,  but  his 
works,  many  of  which  are  regarded  as  the  most 
important  in  the  whole  field  of  chemical  litera 
ture,  appeared  after  his  death  in  French,  Ger 
man  and  Latin  editions.  In  Linn6,  Scheele, 
Berzelius,  and  in  the  naturalist  and  archaeolo- 


12  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

gist,  Sven  Nilsson,  mentioned  above,  Sweden 
touched  the  zenith  of  scientific  fame. 

Before  leaving  Sweden,  we  may  be  permitted 
to  mention  N.  A.  E.  Nordenskjold,  who  is  fa 
mous  for  his  various  Arctic  expeditions,  and 
who,  with  his  Vega  accomplished  the  work  so 
often  attempted  by  many  brave  explorers,  the 
discovery  and  navigation  of  a  northeast  pas 
sage  by  sea  from  the  North  Cape,  the  extreme 
northwestern  point  of  Europe,  to  the  extreme 
northeastern  point  of  Asia,  that  is,  a  passage 
by  sea  from  the  north  Atlantic  ocean  eastward 
to  the  north  Pacific  ocean.  Nordenskjold  has 
the  honor  of  being  the  first  man  to  double  Cape 
Cheljuskin,  the  northern  point  of  the  continent, 
and  by  his  voyage  he  made  many  new  and  val 
uable  additions  to  our  geographical  knowledge 
of  the  Arctic  regions.  His  signal  triumph  well 
deserves  the  most  distinguished  marks  of  honor 
showered  upon  him  during  his  homeward  jour 
ney. 

Entering  the  domain  of  Norway,  we  at  once 
meet  the  brilliant  name  of  the  immortal  math 
ematician,  Henrik  Abel.  I  have  observed  that 
the  great  mathematicians  of  our  time  can 
scarcely  open  their  mouths  wide  enough  when 
they  want  to  say  A— bel.  He  unfortunately 
died  too  young,  but  his  great  fame  keeps  on  in- 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  13 

creasing.  He  is  justly  designated  as  one  of  the 
greatest  geniuses  ever  born  in  the  domain  of 
exact  science,  and  the  solution  of  problems 
made  by  the  youthful  Norwegian  everywhere 
provokes  the  greatest  wonder  and  admiration. 
In  some  of  his  problems  there  is  incorporated 
work  for  a  lifetime  Though  but  27  years  old 
at  his  death,  he  nad  gained  wide  distinction 
by  his  discoveries  in  the  theory  of  elliptic  func 
tions,  and  was  highly  eulogized  by  Legendre. 
Norway  has  also  produced  the  distinguished 
Arctic  explorer,  Frithiof  Nansen,  who  in  1888, 
with  three  other  brave  Norwegians  and  two 
Lapps,  crossed  Greenland  from  the  east  to  the 
west  on  about  the  65th  degree  north  latitude. 
This  crossing  was  done  on  skees,  a  kind  of  long 
snow  shoes,  and  with  small  sleds,  on  which 
they  carried  their  provisions.  An  account  of 
this  first  and  only  crossing  of  Greenland  was 
published  by  the  explorer,  and  it  is  universally 
conceded  that  he  not  only  performed  a  feat  of 
the  greatest  courage  and  bravery,  but  that  he 
also  made  important  contributions  to  our  fund 
of  geographical  and  scientific  knowledge.  Nan- 
sen  has  also  presented  a  new  plan  for  reaching 
the  great  goal  of  all  Arctic  explorers,  the  north 
pole,  by  following  the  current  supposed  to  flow 
from  the  New  Siberian  islands  across  or  near 


14  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

the  north  pole  to  the  sea  between  Spitzbergen 
and  east  Greenland.  He  has  now  been  absent 
two  years  on  this  voyage  of  discovery  and  time 
alone  will  demonstrate  whether  he  is  destined 
to  become  the  discoverer  of  one  of  the  two 
points  on  the  earth's  surface  in  which  it  is  cut 
by  the  axis  of  rotation. 

Ask  the  Icelanders  whether  they  have  pro 
duced  any  name  of  world-wride  reputation,  and 
that  whole  little  island  will  unite  in  shouting 
Albert  Thorwaldsen,  and  the  mountains  of  Ice- 
laud  will  re-echo  "Thorwaldsen."  He  was  a  de 
scendant  of  Snorre  Thorfinson,  who  w^as  born  in 
America  (Vinland),  in  the  year  1008,  and  though 
born  of  humble  parents,  he  succeeded  in  devel 
oping  his  talents  and  became  the  greatest  sculp 
tor  of  modern  times. 

I  have  enumerated  only  a  few  of  the  many 
services  rendered  to  the  world  by  the  Scandina 
vians.  I  could  easily  have  added  a  discussion 
of  such  brilliant  names  as  Hans  Christian  An 
dersen,  Grundtvig,  Swedenborg,  Tegn^r,  Bell 
man,  Kydberg,  Holberg,  Wergeland,  Bjornson, 
Ibsen,  Snorre  Sturlason,  Gudbrand  Vigfusson, 
Gade,  Hartmann,  Grieg,  Svendsen,  Sinding,  Ole 
Bull,  Jenny  Lind  and  many  others;  but  enough 
has  been  said  on  this  point  to  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  the  Scandinavians  are  the  peers  of 


SERVICES   RENDERED.  15 

any  other  race  in  every  field  of  intellectual  ef 
fort.  Considering  their  numerical  strength,  they 
have  contributed  their  full  share  toward  the 
enlightenment  and  progress  of  the  world. 

The  brilliant  services  here  cited,  and  which 
are  universally  admitted,  have  been  rendered 
to  the  world  generally,  but  I  shall  now  demon 
strate  by  indisputable  facts  that  the  Scandina 
vians  have  an  honorable  place  in  the  annals 
of  America.     America  is  indebted  to  them  for 
special  services.     The  civilized  history  of  Amer 
ica  begins  with  the  Norsemen.     Look  at  your 
map  and  you  will  find  that  Greenland  and  a 
part  of  Iceland  belongs  to  the  western  hemis 
phere.     Iceland  became  the  hinge  upon  which 
the  door  swings  which  opened  America  to  Eu 
rope.     It  was  the  occupation  of  Iceland  by  the 
Norsemen  in  the  year  874,  and  the  frequent 
voyages  between  this  island  and  Norway  that 
led  to  the  discovery  and  settlement,   first  of 
Greenland  and  then  of  America,  and  it  is  due 
to  the  culture  and  fine  historical  taste  of  the 
old  Icelanders  that  carefully  prepared  records 
of  the  Norse  voyages  were  kept,  first  to  teach 
pelagic  navigation  to  Columbus  and  afterwards 
to  solve  for  us  the  mysteries  concerning  the  first 
discovery  of  this  continent.  In  this  connection  I 
want  to  repeat  that  the  old  republican  Vikings 


36  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

fully  understood  the  importance  of  studying 
the  art  of  ship-building  and  navigation.     They 
knew  how  to  measure  time  by  the  stars  and 
how  to  calculate  the  course    of   the   sun    and 
moon.     They  were  themselves  pioneers  in  ven 
turing  out  upon  the  high  seas,  and  taught  the 
rest  of  the  world  to  navigate  the  ocean.     Every 
scrap  of  written  history  sustains  me  when  I 
say  with  all  the  emphasis  I  can  put  into  so 
many  words,  that  the  other  peoples  of  Europe 
were  limited  in  their  nautical  knowledge  to 
coast   navigation.  -     The   Norse   Vikings,   who 
crossed  the  stormy  North  sea  and  found  their 
way  to  Great  Britain,  to  the  Orkneys,  the  Fa- 
reys.  and  to  Iceland,  and  all  those  heroes  who 
found    their    way    to    Greenland  and  Vinland 
taught   the   world   pelagic   navigation.     They 
demonstrated  the  possibility  of  venturing  out 
of  sight  of  land  and  in  this  sense,  if  in  no  other, 
we  may  with  perfect  propriety  assert  that  the 
Norsemen  taught  Columbus  how  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  ocean.     Into  every  history  of  the  world 
I  would  put  this  sentence:     The  navigation  of 
the  ocean  was  discovered  by  the  old  Norsemen. 
A  most  admirable  introduction  of  the  hon 
orable  place  held  by  the  Scandinavians  in  the 
annals  of  America  is  the  brilliant  fact  in  the 
world's  history  and  the  lustrous  page  in  the  an- 


SERVICES   RENDERED.  17 

nals  of  the  Scandinavians,  that  the  Norsemen 
anticipated  by  five  centuries,  Christopher 
Columbus  and  Amerigo  Vespucci,  and  that  the 
New  World  was  discovered  by  Leif  Erikson  in 
the  year  1000;  for  the  finding  of  America  is  the 
most  prominent  fact  in  the  history  of  maritime 
discovery,  and  has  been  fraught  with  the  most 
important  consequences  to  the  world  at  large 
from  that  time  to  the  present.  About  the  year 
860,  the  Norsemen  discovered  Iceland,  and 
soon  afterwards  (in  874),  they  established  upon 
this  island  a  republic  which  flourished  for  400 
years.  Greenland  was  seen  for  the  first  time 
in  876,  by  Gunnbjorn  Ulfson,  from  Norway. 
About  a  century  later,  in  the  year  984,  Erik  the 
Red  resolved  to  go  in  search  of  the  land  in  the 
west,  which  Gunnbjorn,  as  well  as  others  later, 
had  seen.  He  sailed  from  Iceland  and  found 
the  land  as  he  had  expected,  and  remained  there 
exploring  the  country  for  two  years.  At  the 
end  of  this  period  he  returned  to  Iceland,  giv 
ing  the  newly-discovered  country  the  name  of 
Greenland,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  attract  set 
tlers,  who  would  be  favorably  impressed  with 
so  pleasing  a  name.  Thus,  as  Greenland  be 
longs,  geographically,  wholly  to  America,  it 
will  be  seen  that  Erik  the  Eed  was  the  first 

white  man  to  boom  American  real  estate.     And 
2 


18  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

he  did  it  successfully.  Many  Norsemen  emi 
grated,  and  a  flourishing  colony,  with  Gardar 
for  its  capital,  and  Erik  the  Ked  as  its  first 
ruler,  was  established,  which  in  the  year  1261, 
became  subject  to  the  crown  of  Norway.  We 
have  a  list  of  seventeen  bishops  who  served  in 
Greenland.  This  is  the  first  settlement  of  Eu 
ropeans  in  the  New  World.  Erik  the  Red  and 
his  followers  were  not  Christians  when  they 
settled  in  Greenland,  but  worshipers  of  Odin 
and  Thor,  though  they  relied  chiefly  on  their 
own  might  and  strength.  Christianity  wTas  in 
troduced  among  them  about  the  year  1000, 
though  Erik  the  Red  continued  to  adhere  to  the 
religion  of  his  fathers  to  his  dying  day. 

The  first  white  man  whose  eyes  beheld  any 
part  of  the  American  continent  was  the  Norse 
man,  Bjarne  Herjulfson,  in  the  year  986.  The 
first  white  man  who,  to  our  certain  knowledge, 
planted  his  feet  on  the  soil  of  the  American 
continent,  was  Leif  Erikson,  the  son  of  Erik 
the  Red,  in  the  year  1000.  The  first  white  man 
and  the  first  Christian  who  was  buried  beneath 
American  sod  was  Leif  s  brother,  Thorvald, 
in  the  year  1002.  The  first  white  man  who 
founded  a  settlement  within  the  limits  of  the 
present  United  States  was  Thorfin  Karlsefne, 
in  the  year  1007.  The  first  white  woman  who 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  19 

came  to  Vinland  was  Thorfin's  talented  and 
enterprising  wife,  Gudrid.  In  the  year  1008, 
she  gave  birth  to  a  son  in  Vinland.  The  boy 
was  called  Snorre,  and  he  was  the  first  person 
of  European  descent  to  see  the  light  of  day  in 
the  new  world.  From  the  accounts  of  these 
voyages  and  settlements,  we  get  our  first  knowl 
edge  and  descriptions  of  the  aborigines  of 
America.  In  1112,  Helge  and  Finnboge,  with 
the  woman  Freydis,  made  a  voyage  to  Vinland. 
In  1112,  Erik  Upse  settled  as  bishop  in  Green 
land,  and  in  1121,  this  same  bishop  went  on  a 
missionary  journey  from  Greenland  to  Vinland. 
This  is  the  first  visit  of  a  Christian  minister  to 
the  American  continent.  The  last  of  these  in 
teresting  voyages  before  the  re-discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  was  in  the  year  1347, 
when  a  Greenland  ship  with  a  crew  of  18  men 
came  from  Nova  Scotia  (Markland)  to  Straum- 
fjord,  in  Iceland.  Thus  it  appears  that  the 
Vinland  voyages  extended  over  a  period  of 
about  450  years  and  to  within  144  years  of  the 
re-discovery  by  Columbus  in  1492. 

While  Leif  Erikson  was  the  first  white  man 
who  planted  his  feet  on  the  eastern  shores  of 
the  American  continent,  it  was  left  to  another 
plucky  Scandinavian  to  become  the  discoverer 
of  the  narrow  body  of  water  which  separates 


20  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

America  from  Asia.  Vitus  Bering  was  a  Dane, 
born  in  Jutland,  in  Denmark,  in  1680.  He  en 
tered  the  serivce  of  Russia,  and  in  1725,  he  was 
made  chief  commander  of  one  of  the  greatest 
geographical  expeditions  ever  undertaken.  He 
explored  the  sea  of  Kamchatka,  and  during 
this  voyage  he  discovered  Bering  strait,  in  1728, 
and  ascertained  that  Asia  was  not  joined  to 
America.  Thus,  as  the  Norwegian,  Leif  Erik- 
son,  is  the  first  white  man  who  sets  foot  on  the 
extreme  eastern  part  of  this  continent,  so  the 
Dane,  Vitus  Bering,  becomes  the  discoverer  of 
its  extreme  western  boundary  line.  They 
stand  at  the  rising  and  setting  sun  and  clasp 
what  is  now  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
in  their  strong  Scandinavian  arms,  and  we 
might  here  fittingly  add  a  Swede  to  complete 
the  trio.  Did  not  Sweden  give  us  John  Erics 
son,  who,  with  his  little  cheese  box,  the  famous 
"Monitor,"  gave  most  valuable  help  to  this 
beloved  land  in  the  hour  of  its  greatest  danger? 

Who  will  deny  that  the  Scandinavians  have 
rendered  important  services  to  this  country? 
But  we  must  hurry  on. 

The  first  visit  of  Scandinavians  to  America 
proper  in  post  Columbian  times  is  in  the  year 
1619,  one  year  before  the  landing  of  the  pil 
grims  at  Plymouth.  In  the  spring  of  that  year, 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  21 

King  Christian  IV.  fitted  out  two  ships,  "Een- 
bjorningen"  and  "Lamprenen,"  for  the  purpose 
of  finding  a  northwest  passage  to  Asia.  The  com 
mander  of  this  expedition  was  the  Norwegian, 
Jens  Munk,  born  at  Barby,  in  southern  Norway, 
in  1579.     He  sailed  from  Copenhagen  with  his 
two  ships  and  66  men,  May  9,  1619.     He  ex 
plored  Hudson  bay  and  took  possession  of  the 
surrounding  country  in  the  name  of  his  sov 
ereign,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Nova  Dania. 
All  the  members  of  this  expedition  perished, 
except  Jens  Munk  and  two  of  his  crew,  who 
returned  to  Norway  September  25,  1620,  the 
undertaking  having  proved  a  complete  failure. 
The  ship  chaplain  on  this  expedition  was  the 
Danish    Lutheran    minister,     Kasmus    Jensen 
Aarhus,  and  my  friend,  Kev.  Adolph  Bredesen, 
of  Stoughton,  Wis.,  has  called  attention  to  the 
fact   that   he   was   the    first   minister    of   the 
Lutheran  church  in  the  New  World.     Mr.  Bre 
desen  speaks  thus  touchingly  of  this  minister 
and  his  ministry  among  all  those  who  perished 
from  disease  and  exposure  during  that  terrible 
winter  of  1620,  in  the  Hudson   bay  country: 
"Rasmus  Jensen  Aarhus,  a  Danish  Lutheran 
pastor,  ministered  faithfully  to  these  unlucky 
men,  almost  to  his  dying  breath.     He  died  Feb 
ruary  20,  1620,  on  the  southwestern  shore  of 


22  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Hudson  bay,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Churchill 
river.  His  last  sermon  was  a  funeral  sermon, 
preached  from  his  own  deathbed."  It  is  strange 
that  Jens  Munk  is  not  mentioned  in  our  Eng 
lish  and  American  cyclopedias. 

Norwegians  and  Danes  certainly  arrived  in 
New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York,  at  a  very 
early  period.  The  Rev.  Rasmus  Andersen,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  has  given  this  matter  much 
attention,  and  he  claims  that  he  can  find  traces 
of  Scandinavians  in  New  York  as  early  as  1617. 
Fie  states  that  several  Danes  (more  probably 
Norwegians)  were  settled  on  Manhattan  island 
in  1617.  In  1704,  he  says  they  built  a  hand 
some  stone  church  on  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Rector  streets.  Here  regular  services 
were  held  in  the  Danish  language  until  the 
property  w^as  sold  to  Trinity  church,  the  pres 
ent  churchyard  occupying  the  site  of  the  early 
building.  He  adds  that  "an  examination  of  the 
first  directory  published  in  New  York  shows 
many  names  of  unquestionably  Danish  origin." 
I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  assuming  that  these 
people  were  Norwegians  rather  than  Danes, 
and  my  reason  for  so  doing  is  that  the  descend 
ants  of  those  people,  whom  I  have  met  or  with 
whom  I  have  corresponded,  invariably  claim 
to  be  of  Norwegian  descent.  A  very  large  nurn- 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  23 

ber  belong  to  the  Bergen  family,  and  their  fam 
ily  history  was  published  some  years  ago  in  a 
substantial  volume.  From  this  volume  I  gather 
the  salient  fact,  that  Hans  Han  sen  Bergen,  the 
common  ancestor  of  the  Bergen  family  of 
Long  Island,  New  Jersey,  and  their  vicinity, 
was  a  native  of  Bergen,  in  Norway,  a  ship  car 
penter  by  trade,  and  had  removed  thence  to 
Holland.  From  Holland  he  emigrated  in  1633 
to  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York.  In  the 
early  colonial  records,  his  name  appears  in  va 
rious  forms,  among  which  may  be  found  that 
of  "Hans  Hansen  van  Bergen  in  Noorwegan," 
"Hans  Hansen  Noorman,"  "Hans  Noorman," 
"Hans  Hansen  de  Noorman,"  "Hans  Hansz," 
"Hans  Hansen,"  and  others.  The  term  "Noor 
man,"  meaning  Northman,  clearly  refers  to  Nor 
way,  like  "in  Noorwegan,"  and  was  applied  to 
natives  of  that  country.  Another  very  clear 
instance  of  this  sort  is  that  of  Claes  Carstensen, 
who  was  married  in  New  Amsterdam  in  1646. 
In  the  marriage  entry  this  Claes  Carstensen  is 
said  to  be  from  Norway,  and  he  was  subse 
quently  called  "the  Noorman." 

Finding  a  baronial  family  in  Europe  by  the 
name  of  Bergen,  some  people  of  that  name  in 
this  country  have  flattered  themselves  that  they 
were  scions  of  that  stock,  and  thus  link  them- 


24  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

selves  by  imagination  with  the  aristocracy  of 
the  old  world.  But,  as  Teunis  Bergen,  the  au 
thor  of  the  interesting  and  exhaustive  volume 
on  the  Bergen  family  referred  to  above,  sug 
gests,  they  may  as  well  descend  from  this  im 
aginary  eminence  and  make  up  their  minds  that 
they  belong  to  the  commonality  and  not  to  the 
nobility.  The  Bergens  and  the  Carstensens,  like 
the  great  mass  of  the  original  immigrants  to 
this  country,  belonged  to  the  humble  class  of 
society  and  came  to  America  to  better  their 
prospects  and  fortunes.  It  must  be  sufficient 
for  their  descendants  to  know  that  their  Nor 
wegian  ancestors  came  from  a  country  where 
the  feudal  system  was  never  known,  where  the 
land  was  held  under  no  superior,  not  even  the 
king.  They  are  scions  of  those  Vikings  who 
laid  the  foundations  of  Russia,  founded  a  king 
dom  in  France,  and  another  in  Italy,  and  who 
conquered  and  carried  their  institutions  into 
England.  They  may  point  with  pride  to  the 
fact  that  their  ancestors  discovered  America 
five  centuries  before  Columbus,  but  they  need 
not  boast  of  aristocratic  blood. 

We  next  come  to  the  Swedish  settlement  on 
the  Delaware,  founded  in  1638.  This  is  well- 
known  to  most  readers,  and  I  will  only  add  that 
the  Swedish  language  was  used  in  a  Philadel- 


SERVICES   RENDERED.  25 

phia  church  as  late  as  1823.  But  I  will  here 
call  attention  to  a  fact  probably  not  so  well 
known,  that  John  Morton,  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  an  active 
member  of  the  continental  congress,  born  at 
Ridley,  Pa.,  in  1724,  was  a  descendant  of  the 
Swedes  on  the  Delaware.  Eobert  Anderson, 
the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  Sumter,  against 
which  the  first  gun  of  the  rebellion  was  fired, 
was  also  a  scion  of  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware. 
In  the  language  of  W.  W.  Thomas,  Jr.,  "love  of 
freedom  and  patriotism  and  state-craft  and 
valor  came  over  to  America  not  only  in  the  May 
flower,  but  also  in  that  Swedish  ship,  the  Kal- 
mar  Nyckel."  The  first  Swedish  settlers  on  the 
Delaware  came  in  the  ship  Kalmar  Nyckel 
and  the  yacht  Yogel  Grip  in  1638. 

Among  the  distinguished  representatives  of 
our  Swedish  American  group  we  may  also  men 
tion  the  famous  rear  admiral  of  the  United 
States  navy,  John  A.  Dahlgren,  who  was  born 
in  Philadelphia  in  1809.  During  the  late  war 
he  silenced  Fort  Sumter  and  received  a  safe 
anchorage  for  the  Monitor  inside  the  bar  of 
Charleston,  and  in  this  manner  effectually  put 
a  stop  to  the  blockade  running,  which  had  been 
before  so  successfully  practiced.  His  name  is 
thus  linked  with  that  of  the  world-renowned 


26  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

John  Ericsson,  the  inventor  of  the  Monitor,  and 
our  navy  is  largely  indebted  to  Dahlgren  for  the 
great  improvements  in  its  ordnance,  which  has 
taken  place  since  1840.  Thomas  F.  Bayard, 
late  secretary  of  state,  and  now  ambassador  to 
England,  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  he  is  de 
scended  on  his  mother's  side  from  the  Swedes 
on  the  Delaware. 

Passing  now  to  the  War  of  the  Kevolution, 
many  Scandinavians  are  found  serving  in  the 
American  navy,  and  doubtless,  too,  in  the  army. 
While  investigating  this  and  similar  matters 
some  years  ago  my  attention  was  called  to  the 
somewhat  remarkable  case  of  Thomas  Johnson. 
In  volume  28  (1874)  of  the  New  England  Histor 
ical  and  Genealogical  Kegister,  I  find  this  inter 
esting  account  of  him:  "Johnson  was  the  son  of 
a  pilot  in  Mandal,  a  seaport  on  the  coast  of 
Norway,  where  he  was  born  in  1758.  In  the 
absence  of  his  father,  he  towed  the  first  Amer 
ican  vessel,  the  Ranger,  commanded  by  Paul 
Jones,  into  the  harbor  of  Mandal.  After  their 
arrival  Jones  sent  for  the  young  pilot,  and  pre 
senting  him  with  a  piece  of  gold,  expressed  his 
pleasure  at  his  expert  seamanship,  which  he 
had  minutely  watched  during  the  towing  of  the 
ship  into  harbor.  He  (Jones)  had  made  the 
port  of  Mandal  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  27 

the  crew  of  the  Hanger,  and  satisfactory  ar 
rangements  having  been  made  with  his  father, 
Johnson  was  received  on  board  as  a  seaman. 
On  assuming  command  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Eichard,  Jones  transferred  some  thirty  volun 
teers  from  the  Eanger,  among  whom  was 
Thomas  Johnson,  who,  following  the  fortunes  of 
his  leader,  went  with  him  to  the  Serapis  and  Al 
liance,  and  finally  arrived  with  him  in  the  Ariel 
in  Philadelphia,  February  18,  1781,  when  23 
years  of  age — the  first  time  he  had  seen  the  land 
of  his  adoption.  At  this  time  congress  was  sit 
ting  in  Philadelphia,  and  several  members  were 
removing  their  families  to  that  city.  Application 
having  been  made  to  Capt.  Jones  to  furnish  a 
man  to  take  charge  of  a  sloop  to  Boston  to  con 
vey  the  furniture  of  John  Adams  to  Philadel 
phia,  he  appointed  Johnson,  who  performed  the 
service.  This  circumstance  often  brought  John 
son  in  contact  with  Mr.  Adams,  who  knew  that 
he  was  one  of  the  crew  of  Capt.  Jones,  and  con 
sequently  must  have  been  in  the  conflict  of  the 
Serapis  and  Richard,  which  having  occurred  so 
recently,  was  a  subject  of  general  conversation. 
Many  of  the  sailors  frequented  the  hall  of  con 
gress,  and  Johnson  became  so  interested  in 
listening  to  and  observing  what  was  new  to 
him,  that  he  was  a  daily  visitor.  When  the 


28  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

members  found  that  the  sailors  were  part  of 
the  crew  of  Capt.  Jones,  they  frequently  left 
their  seats  and  came  over  to  them  to  inquire  the 
particulars  of  the  recent  engagement.  Mr. 
Adams  particularly  engaged  the  attention  of 
Johnson.  To  use  the  veteran's  (Mr.  Johnson's) 
own  words,  he  says  'a  nervous  sensation  seemed 
to  pervade  the  patriot,  as  he  listened  to  the  de 
scription  of  the  battle  given  by  the  sailors;  fire 
flashed  from  his  eyes,  and  his  hair  seemed  per 
fectly  erect;  he  would  clasp  his  hands  and  ex 
claim,  What  a  scene!'  During  the  time  they 
remained  in  Philadelphia,  Gen.  Washington  ar 
rived  and  was  presented  to  congress.  Johnson 
was  present  and  listened  to  the  introduction  by 
President  Hancock,  and  the  reply  by  the  gen 
eral.  Some  days  after,  when  the  sailors  were 
in  the  hall,  Mr.  Adams  brought  Gen.  Washing 
ton  to  them,  who  kindly  shook  each  by  the  hand, 
calling  them  our  gallant  tars,  and  asking  them 
questions  relative  to  the  many  successful  ad 
ventures  they  had  recently  achieved.  Johnson 
soon  after  left  the  navy  and  engaged  in  the 
merchant  service  for  some  years,  but  eventually 
returned  to  it  again,  where  .he  remained  till 
near  the  end  of  life's  voyage."  This  Thomas 
Johnson  assisted  Jones  in  lashing  the  Bon 
Homme  Kichard  to  the  Serapis,  and  was  prob- 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  29 

ably  the  last  survivor  of  this  celebrated  com 
bat.  He  died  at  the  United  States  Naval  Asy 
lum,  Philadelphia,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1851, 
93  years  old,  where  he  had  been  for  many  years 
a  pensioner  and  was  known  by  the  soubriquet 
"Paul  Jones."  Miss  Stafford,  who  was  still  liv 
ing  in  1873,  had  been  a  frequent  visitor  to 
Thomas  Johnson  while  living,  and  after  his 
death  she  annually  visited  his  grave,  "a  trib 
ute,"  adds  the  writer,  "the  humble  sailor  does 
not  often  receive,  whatever  his  services." 

This  account  of  Thomas  Johnson  led  me  to  in 
vestigate  further  into  the  history  of  John  Paul 
Jones,  and  in  his  biography,  written  by  John 
Henry  Sherburne,  register  of  the  navy  of  the 
United  States,  and,  published  at  Washington,  in 
1825,  I  found  the  roll  of  officers,  seamen,  ma 
rines  and  volunteers  who  served  on  board  the 
Bon  Homme  Kichard  in  her  cruise  made  in  1779. 
In  this  roll  the  native  country  of  every  man  is 
given,  and  in  it  I  found  two  seamen,  born  in 
Norway,  viz.:  Lewis  Brown  and  George  John 
son;  and  no  less  than  seven  born  in  Sweden, 
viz.:  Peter  Nolde,  Charles  Peterson,  Daniel 
Emblon  (m),  Peter  Biorkman,  Benjamin  Garti- 
neau,  Peter  Molin  and  Oliver  Gustaff.  Thomas 
Johnson  is  not  mentioned,  but  he  is  given  in 
correctly  as  George  Johnson  and  is  mentioned 


30  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

as  Thomas  Johnson  in  the  list  of  wounded.  Suf 
fice  it  here  to  say  that  there  were  Scandina 
vians  who  fought  and  bled  for  this  country  in 
the  war  of  the  revolution,  as  there  were  thou 
sands,  whose  blood  dampened  American  soil  in 
our  recent  war  to  put  down  the  Southern  rebel 
lion. 

The  brilliant  Swede,  Colonel  (afterwards  field 
marshal)  Alex.  Fersen,  who  in  1779  went  to 
France  where  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the 
royal  regiment  of  Swedes,  must  not  be  for 
gotten.  At  the  head  of  his  regiment  he  served 
with  distinction  in  the  latter  campaigns  of  the 
American  war,  distinguished  himself  on  various 
occasions,  particularly  in  1781,  during  the  siege 
of  Yorktown,  where  he  was  aide-de-camp  to 
Gen.  Kochambeau.  He  also  took  part  in  the 
negotiations  between  Gen.  Washington  and 
Gen.  Rochambeau.  He  afterwards  became 
marshal  of  the  kingdom  of  Sweden. 

I  have  myself  known  Norwegians  who  served 
under  Gen.  Scott  in  the  Mexican  war.  I  have 
mentioned  John  Morton  £nd  Capt.  John  Erics 
son,  and  I  could  have  gone  on  and  enumerated 
many  others  of  Scandinavian  birth  or  descent 
who  have  acquired  a  lasting  reputation  in  the 
annals  of  America.  To  enumerate  them  all 
would  exceed  the  limits  of  this  paper,  and  I 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  31 

might  be  charged  with  partiality  if  I  should 
attempt  to  make  a  selection.  Anyone  inter 
ested  may  easily  find  them  among  our  state  of 
ficials,  among  our  members  of  congress,  among 
the  officers  of  our  army  and  navy,  among  our  au- 
journalists,  and  among  our  leading  merchants 
and  manufacturers,  and  many  of  them  have 
played  no  unimportant  part  in  the  history  of 
our  country.  This  much  is  at  least  clear,  that 
a  complete  history  of  America  cannot  be  writ 
ten  without  some  account  of  what  Scandina 
vians  have  contributed  in  connection  with  the 
discovery  and  development  of  this  country. 

In  the  above  rapid  sketch  of  the  Scandina 
vians  in  European  and  American  history,  I  have 
made  many  bold  and  emphatic  assertions,  and 
as  some  of  these  may  be  regarded  by  some  of 
my  readers  who  do  not  have  the  time  or  oppor 
tunity  to  search  the  records  for  themselves  and 
find  out  whether  or  not  these  things  are  so,  as 
wild,  unfounded  and  unsustained  by  the  highest 
authority,  I  take  the  liberty  of  closing  this  pa 
per  with  a  few  quotations  from  authors,  who 
can  not  be  suspected  of  being  biased  by  national 
or  race  prejudice. 

In  discussing  the  story  of  Sigurd,  the  Vol- 
sung,  as  portrayed  in  the  old  Norse  eddas  and 
sagas,  H.  A.  Taine,  the  great  Frenchman,  who 


32  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

was  himself  a  disciple  of  Guizot,  the  historian 
of  civilization,  says:     "This  is  the  conception  of 
a  hero  as  engendered  by  the  Teutonic  race  in 
its  infancy.     Is  it  not  strange  to  see  them  put 
their  happiness  in  battle,  their  beauty  in  death? 
Is  there  any  people,  Hindoo,  Persian,  Greek  or 
Gallic,  which  has  founded  so  tragic  a  concep 
tion  of  life?     Is  there  any  which  has  peopled 
its  infantine  mind  with  such  gloomy  dreams? 
Is  there  any  which  has  so  entirely  banished 
the  sweetness  from  enjoyment  and  the  softness 
from  pleasure?     Energy,  tenacious  and  mourn 
ful  energy,  such  was  their  chosen  condition.     In 
the  somber  obstinacy  of  an  English  laborer  still 
survives  the  tacit  rage  of  the  Norse  warrior. 
Strife  for  strife's  sake.     Such  is  their  pleasure. 
With  what  sadness,  madness  such  a  disposition 
breaks    its    bonds  we    see    in  Shakspere    and 
Byron.     With  what  completeness,  in  what  du 
ties  it  can  employ  and  entrench    itself   under 
moral  ideas,  we  see  in  the  case  of  the  Puritans." 
In  thus  tracing  American  and  English  great 
ness  back  to  the  hardy  Norsemen,  no  one  will 
accuse  Taine  of  being  influenced  by  a  desire  to 
eulogize  his  own  kith  and  kin. 

In  his  history  of  the  United  States,  our  Amer 
ican  historian,  Benson  John  Lossing  uses  these 
pregnant  words :  "It  is  back  to  the  Norwegian 


SERVICES   RENDERED.  33 

Vikings  we  must  look  for  the  hardiest  elements 
of  progress  in  the  United  States." 

The  eminent  American  scholar,  B.  F.  De 
Costa,  says:  "Let  us  remember  that  in  vindi 
cating  the  Norsemen  we  honor  those  who  not 
only  give  us  the  first  knowledge  possessed  of 
the  American  continent,  but  to  whom  we  su* 
indebted  for  much  beside  that  we  esteem  valu 
able.  For  we  fable  in  a  great  measure  when 
we  speak  of  our  Saxon  inheritance.  It  is  rather 
from  the  Northmen  that  we  have  derived  our 
vital  energy,  our  freedom  of  thought,  and  in  a 
measure  that  we  do  not  yet  suspect  our  strength 
of  speech." 

Let  us  take  a  look  into  the  works  of  the 
French  historian,  Paul  Henri  Mallet:  "History 
has  not  recorded,"  he  says,  "the  annals  of  a 
people,  who  have  occasioned  greater,  more  sud 
den,  or  more  numerous  revolutions  in  Europe 
than  the  Scandinavians,  or  whose  antiquities 
at  the  same  time  are  so  little  known.  Had,  in 
deed,  their  emigrations  been  only  like  those 
sudden  torrents  of  which  all  traces  and  remem 
brance  are  soon  effaced,  the  indifference  that 
has  been  shown  to  them  would  have  been  suffi 
ciently  justified  by  the  barbarism  they  have 
been  reproached  with.  But  during  those  general 
3 


34  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

inundations  the  face  of  Europe  underwent  so  to 
tal  a  change,  and  during  the  confusion  they  oc 
casioned,  such  different  establishments  took 
place;  new  societies  were  formed,  animated  so 
entirely  with  a  new  spirit,  that  the  history  of 
our  own  manners  and  institutions  ought  neces 
sarily  to  ascend  back  and  even  dwell  a  consid 
erable  time  upon  a  period  which  discovers  to  us 
their  chief  origin  and  source." 

After  giving  a  brief  description  of  Scandina 
vian  influence  in  Europe  and  the  downfall  of 
the  Eoman  empire,  Mr.  Mallet  adds:  "It  is 
easy  to  see  from  this  short  sketch  how  greatly 
the  nations  of  the  North  have  influenced  the 
different  fates  of  Europe,  and  if  it  be  worth 
while  to  trace  its  revolutions  to  their  causes, 
if  the  illustration  of  its  institutions,  of  its  po 
lice,  of  its  customs,  of  its  manners,  of  its  laws, 
be  a  subject  of  useful  and  interesting  inquiry, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  the  antiquities  of  the 
North,  that  is  to  say,  everything  which  tends 
to  make  us  acquainted  with  its  ancient  inhab 
itants,  merits  a  share  in  the  attention  of  think 
ing  men.  But  to  render  this  obvious  by  a  par 
ticular  example:  Is  it  not  well  known  that  the 
most  flourishing  and  celebrated  states  of  Eu 
rope  owe  originally  to  the  Northern  nations 
whatever  liberty  they  now  enjoy,  either  in  their 


SERVICES  RENDERED.  36 

constitution  or  in  the  spirit  of  their  govern 
ment?  For  although  the  Gothic  form  of  govern 
ment  has  been  almost  everywhere  altered  or 
abolished,  have  we  not  retained,  in  most  things, 
the  opinions,  the  customs,  the  manners,  which 
that  government  had  a  tendency  to  produce?  Is 
not  this,  in  fact,  the  principal  source  of  that 
courage,  of  that  aversion  to  slavery  of  that  em 
pire  of  honor,  which  characterized  in  general 
the  European  nations,  and  of  that  moderation, 
of  that  easiness  of  access,  and  peculiar  atten 
tion  to  the  rights  of  humanity,  which  so  happily 
distinguish  our  sovereigns  from  the  inaccessible 
and  superb  tyrants  of  Asia?  The  immense  ex 
tent  of  the  Roman  empire  had  rendered  its 
constitution  so  despotic  and  military,  many  of 
its  emperors  were  such  ferocious  monsters,  its 
senate  was  become  so  mean-spirited  and  vile, 
that  all  elevation  of  sentiment,  everything  that 
was  noble  and  manly,  seems  to  have  been  for 
ever  vanished  from  their  hearts  and  minds,  in 
somuch  that  if  all  Europe  had  received  the  yoke 
of  Rome,  in  this  her  state  of  debasement,  this 
fine  part  of  the  world  reduced  to  the  inglorious 
condition  of  the  rest  could  not  have  avoided 
falling  into  that  kind  of  barbarity  which  is  of 
all  others  the  most  incurable,  as  by  making  as 
many  slaves  as  there  are  men,  it  degrades  them 


86  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

so  low  as  not  to  leave  them  even  a  thought  or 
desire  of  bettering  their  condition.  But  nature 
had  long  prepared  a  remedy  for  such  great 
evils  in  that  unsubmitting,  unconquerable  spirit 
with  which  she  had  inspired  the  people  of  the 
North;  and  thus  she  made  amends  to  the  hu 
man  race  for  all  the  calamities  which,  in  other 
respects,  the  inroads  of  these  nations  and  the 
overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire  produced." 

We  will  close  the  quotations  with  the  follow 
ing  enthusiastic  words  of  the  Scotch  author 
and  traveler,  Samuel  Laing:  "All  that  men 
hope  for  of  good  government  and  future  im 
provement  in  their  physical  and  moral  condi 
tion — all  that  civilized  men  enjoy  at  this  day 
of  civil,  religious  and  political  liberty — the  Brit 
ish  constitution,  representative  legislature,  the 
trial  by  jary,  security  of  property,  freedom  of 
mind  and  person,  the  influence  of  public  opinion 
over  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  the  reforma 
tion,  the  liberty  of  the  press,  the  spirit  of  the 
age — all  that  is  or  has  been  of  value  to  man  in 
modern  times  as  a  member  of  society,  either  in 
Europe  or  the  New  World,  may  be  traced  to  the 
spark  left  burning  upon  our  shores  by  these 
Northern  barbarians."  Not  much  barbarism  in 
that! 


FIRST  CHAPTER 
OP 

NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 


Statistics. 

How  many  Norwegians  landed  in  Xmerica 
between  the  years  1492  and  1821  it  is  impossi 
ble  to  determine.  We  have  no  government 
statistics  to  guide  us,  and  we  know  there  was 
no  regular  and  systematic  emigration  from  Nor 
way  or  from  any  of  the  other  Scandinavian 
countries.  Certainly  no  Norwegians  came  in 
collective  bodies  and  formed  settlements,  and 
we  are  able  to  trace  them  only  either  through 
their  descendants  who  have  kept  family  records 
or  in  the  public  documents  or  published  works 
where  they  happen  to  be  mentioned.  In  this 
way  Hans  Han  sen,  from  Bergen,  Claes  Carsten- 
sen,  Thomas  Johnson,  and  the  others  mentioned 


38  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

in  the  introductory  chapter  have  been  found. 
But  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  a  considerable 
number  of  enterprising  Norwegians  found  their 
way  to  their  old  Vinland  during  the  seven 
teenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  particu 
larly  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  republic  diplomatic 
and  consular  relations  were  established  with 
the  Scandinavian  countries,  and  there  was  more 
or  less  commerce  between  Norway,  Sweden  and 
Denmark  and  the  United  States.  This  official 
and  commercial  intercourse  would  naturally 
induce  some  Scandinavians  to  visit  the  United 
States  and  others  to  settle  within  our  gates. 
The  many  Scandinavian  names  found  in  the  old 
directories  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and 
other  eastern  cities  are  largely  to  be  accounted 
for  in  this  manner. 

From  the  year  1820  the  United  States  govern 
ment  supplies  us  with  immigration  statistics; 
but  unfortunately  for  our  present  purpose  Swe 
den  and  Norway  are  grouped  together  in  these 
down  to  the  year  1868,  and  hence  it  is  impos 
sible  to  determine  how  many  came  from  each 
country.  From  the  year  1836  we  are  helped  out 
by  Norway,  where  the  government  in  that  year 
began  to  collect  and  preserve  statistics  of  emi- 


STATISTICS.  39 

gration.  These  early  tables  are,  of  course,  more 
or  less  imperfect,  and  we  are  justified  in  assum 
ing  that  the  actual  number  of  emigrants  was 
larger  than  the  one  given  in  the  official  tables. 
In  the  American  statistics  the  number  of  pas 
sengers  and  immigrants  from  Sweden  and  Nor 
way  from  1820  to  1835  inclusive,  is  given  as  fol 
lows:  1820,  3;  1821,  12;  1822,  10;  1823,  1;  1824, 
9;  1825,  4.  In  evidence  of  the  incompleteness 
of  early  statistics  I  may  call  attention  to 
the  fact,  that  while  the  number  of  immigrants 
from  Sweden  and  Norway  in  1825  is  here  given 
as  only  four,  we  know  that  at  least  fifty-three 
arrived  in  that  year  from  Norway  alone.  The 
reader  will  find  this  statement  fully  confirmed 
when  he  gets  to  our  description  of  the  voyage 
of  the  sloop  "Kestaurationen."  The  American 
statistics  are  continued  as  follows:  1826,  16; 
1827,  13;  1828,  10;  1829,  13;  1830,  3;  1831,  13; 
1832,  313;  1833,  16;  1834,  42;  1835,  31.  For 
3  836  the  American  tables  give  us  57  immigrants 
from  Sweden  and  Norway,  while  we  know  that 
at  least  200  emigrated  from  Norway  in  that 
year.  We  now  turn  to  the  tables  published  by 
the  government  of  Norway  and  find  them  given 
as  follows:  1836,  200;  1837,  200;  1838,  100; 
1839,  400;  1840,  300;  1841,  400;  1842,  700;  1843, 
1,600.  From  this  time  on  the  Norwegians  came 


40  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

to  America  by  the  thousands  every  year  and 
the  means  and  conveniences  for  emigrating  in 
Norwegian  vessels  instead  of  going  by  way  of 
Gothenborg,  Hamburg  or  Havre,  became  thor- 
ourghly  organized  and  systematized.  The  immi 
gration  from  Norway  culminated  in  1882,  in 
which  year  29,101  Norwegians  landed  in  the 
United    States.       The  total    number  of  immi 
grants  from  Norway  from  1820  to  the  present 
time  (1894)  is  in  round  numbers  about  500,000. 
The  immigration  from  Sweden  during  the  same 
period  amounts  to  fully  600,000,  and  that  from 
Denmark  and  Iceland  is  about  150,000,  making 
an  aggregate  of  1,250,000  Scandinavian  immi 
grants.     Subtracting  those  who  have  died  or 
who  may  have  returned  to  Europe,  and  adding 
the  children,  grandchildren,  and  great-grand 
children  of  the  immigrants,  the  Scandinavian 
group  largely  domiciled  in  the  great  Northwest, 
but  having  representatives  in  every  state  and 
territory  in  the  Union  will  be  found  to  consti 
tute  no  small  part  of  our  present  population.  I 
think  wre  can  safely  estimate  this  grand  total 
at  2,500,000,  or  double  the  number  of  actual 
immigrants.      It  is  a  fact  well  worth  noticing 
in  passing,  that  a  larger  percentage  of  the  Scan 
dinavians  engage  in  agriculture  than  of  any 
other  group  of  our  population.     One  out  of  four 


STATISTICS. 


41 


of  the  Scandinavians  engages  in  farming,  while 
only  one  out  of  six  of  the  native  Americans,  one 
out  of  seven  of  the  Germans  and  one  out  of 
twelve  of  the  Irish  chooses  agriculture  as  his 
occupation. 

According  to  a  carefully  prepared  article  by 
S.  Sorensen  in  Minneapolis  Tidende  for  Decem 
ber  23,  1894,  and  based  on  the  United  States 
census  of  1890,  it  appears  that  the  number  of 
inhabitants  in  America  who  were  either  born 
in  Scandinavia  or  of  Scandinavian  parents, 
was:  Swedes,  726,430;  Norwegians,  596,131; 
Danes,  213,036,  making  a  total  of  1,535,597,  but 
this  does  not,  of  course,  include  grandchildren 
or  great-grandchildren. 

While  the  Scandinavians  are  most  numerous 
in  the  northwestern  states,  representatives  of 
these  nationalities  are  found  in  every  state  and 
territory  as  is  shown  by  the  following  table: 


STATES  AND  TERRITORIES. 

Swedes. 

Nor 
wegians 

Danes. 

Maine  

2,546 

433 

1,099 

1  418 

355 

82 

947 

38 

79 

Massachusetts  

24,664 

3,083 

S,057 

Rhode  Island  

4  227 

310 

142 

13,378 

543 

2  018 

New  York  

39  768 

9  444 

8  182 

New  Jersey  .  . 

5.739 

1.530 

4.339 

NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 


STATES  AND  TERKITORIES. 

Swedes. 

Nor 
wegians 

27,840 

1,458 

Delaware  

388 

16 

Maryland  

496 

253 

District  of  Columbia  

215 

82 

Virginia  

299 

139 

West  Virginia  

187 

9 

North  Carolina  

88 

15 

South  Carolina  

143 

29 

Georgia  

837 

115 

Florida  

833 

272 

Ohio  

4,875 

659 

Indiana  

7,910 

478 

131  966 

48,091 

Michigan  

37,941 

11,451 

Wisconsin  

29,993 

130,737 

155  089 

195,764 

Iowa  

52,171 

59,822 

Missouri  

9,537 

948 

North  Dakota  

7,974 

47,877 

South  Dakota  

12,233 

38,897 

Nebraska  

47,318 

6,997 

31,492 

8,444 

Kentucky  

477 

43 

591 

76 

Alabama  

423 

76 

Mississippi  

526 

113 

698 

240 

Texas  

4,655 

2,526 

Oklahoma  .  

219 

92 

586 

102 

Montana  

4,465 

2,662 

1  940 

519 

12  975 

1,299 

New  Mexico  

215 

71 

273 

93 

Utah  

10,321 

8,247 

421 

92 

Idaho  

2,332 

1,313 

Washington  

12,868 

11,591 

5  235 

3,267 

California  

15  248 

5  421 

Danes. 


2,677 

58 

230 

137 

129 

50 

45 

71 

111 

179 

1,487 

1,200 

17,090 

10,180 

23,882 

22,182 

25,240 

2,470 

4,032 

7,199 

22,267 

5,581 

162 

159 

143 

184 

536 

1,216 

67 

229 

1,014 

1,074 

2,515 

93 

411 

19,736 

558 

2,665 

3,949 

1,967 

11,863 


STATISTICS.  4S 

The  Swedes  have  their  strongholds  in  Min 
nesota,  Nebraska,  Washington,  Kansas,  Colo 
rado,  Utah  and  Illinois.  The  Norwegians  are 
comparatively  most  numerous  in  North  Dakota, 
Minnesota,  South  Dakota,  Wisconsin,  Washing 
ton  and  Iowa.  The  Danes  predominate  in  Utah 
and  Idaho.  The  Scandinavians  are  particu 
larly  numerous  in  the  following  cities:  Chi 
cago,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  Bos 
ton,  St.  Louis,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  Omaha 
and  San  Francisco. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  statistics  which  I 
have  quoted  above,  Norwegian  immigration  did 
not  amount  to  much  before  the  year  1836.     In 
that  year  two  ships  brought  immigrants  from 
Stavanger,  an  ancient  city  on  the  southwest 
coast  of  Norway  to  New  York.     These  were  the 
so-called  Kohler    brigs,    the  one  named  "Nor- 
den"  (The  North),  and  the  other  "Den  Norske 
Klippe"  (The  Norwegian  Kock),  owned  by  the 
Kielland  Company.  My  father,  Bjorn  Anderson, 
from  the  farm  Qvelve  in  Vigedal,  north  of  Stav 
anger,    my  mother,    born  Abel    Cathrine    von 
Krogh,  from  Sandeid,  the  next  parish  west  of 
Vigedal,  and  my  two  oldest  brothers  were  pas 
sengers  in  the  "Norden,"  which  left  Stavanger 
on  the  first  Wednesday  after  Pentecost,  Capt. 
Williamson  commanding,  and  arrived  in  New 


44  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

York  July  12,  1836.      The    other    brig,    "Den 
Norske  Klippe,"  sailed  from  Stavanger  a  few 
days  later  and  arrived  about  three  weeks  later 
in  New  York.     The  following  year  (1837)  a  ship 
called   "Enigheden"   (Unity),   Captain   Jensen, 
from  Egersund,  a  small  seaport  town  south  of 
Stavanger,    brought    ninety-three    passengers, 
and  another  ship  "2Egir"  (the  name  of  the  god 
of  the  sea  in  Scandinavian    mythology),    com 
manded  by  Capt.  Behrens,  and  carrying  eighty- 
four  emigrants,  sailed  the  same  year  from  Ber 
gen,  the  chief  city  on  the  west  coast  of  Norway. 
From  that  time  on  the  stream  of  Norwegian  im 
migration  gradually  broadens,  though  it  does 
not  become  particularly  large  before  the  year 
1843,  but  a  discussion  of  it  does  not  come  within 
the  scope  of  this  volume.     My  investigations  so 
far  as  the  actual  emigration  from  Norway  is 
concerned,  ends  with  the  year  1839,  while  so 
far  as  the  immigrants  in  the  New  World  are 
concerned  I  propose  to  watch   their   progress 
down  to  the  year  1840,  when  we  shall  find  them 
located  in  half  a  dozen  Norwegian  settlements 
destined  to  become  more  or  less  prosperous.     I 
shall  also  give  some  account  of  the  first  Norwe 
gian  settlements  in  Texas  and  give  a  brief  ac 
count  of  the  religious   work  done  among   the 
Norwegians  in  America  down  to  the  coming  of 


CAUSES   OP   EMIGRATION.  45 

Rev.  J.  W.  C.  Dietrichson  and  the  dedication 
of  the  first  three  Norwegian  Lutheran  churches, 
in  1844  and  1845. 


IL 

Causes  of  Emigration. 

The  two  Kohler  brigs  came  from  Stavanger 
in  1836,  but  just  as  the  Puritans  had  their  May 
flower  in  1620  and  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware 
their  Kalmnr  Nyckcl  in  1638,  so  the  Norwegians 
had  their  little  sloop  called  Restaurationen  (The 
Restoration)  in  1825,  and  it  was  loaded  with  no 
less  precious  human  freight 

We  are  therefore  now  prepared  to  go  back 
to  the  year  1821,  where  we  shall  find  the  be 
ginning  and  the  causes  of  the  modern  Norwe 
gian  immigration  to  the  United  States.  Lars 
Larson  (in  Norwegian,  Lars  Larson  i  Jeilane) 
was  born  in  Stavanger  in  Norway,  September 
24,  1787.  He  became  a  ship-carpenter  and 
served  on  board  a  Norwegian  merchant  vessel. 
During  the  Napoleonic  wars  Russia  compelled 
Denmark  to  make  wrar  on  England,  but  was 
unable  to  prevent  England  from  sending  a  fleet 
to  the  sound,  where  a  bloody  naval  engagement 


46  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

was  fought  on  the  second  of  April,  1801.  Six 
years  later  in  September,  1807,  to  cross  the 
plans  of  Napoleon,  England  bombarded  Copen 
hagen  and  captured  the  Danish  fleet.  The  al 
lies  of  Denmark  afforded  her  no  protection.  In 
the  Danish  war  with  England  from  1807  to 
1814,  of  which  the  struggle  with  Sweden  in  1808 
and  1809  was  a  mere  episode,  the  commerce 
and  finances  of  Denmark  were  ruined,  and  Den 
mark  as  the  ally  of  France  was  put  on  a  war 
footing  with  nearly  all  of  Europe.  At  the  peace 
which  was  secured  in  Kiel  in  1814,  Denmark 
lost  Norway  and  other  possessions  and  was  left 
in  a  bankrupt  condition.  In  the  first  year  of 
this  war,  that  is  in  1807,  the  ship  in  which  Lars 
Larson  was  employed,  was  captured  by  the  Eng 
lish,  and  he  and  the  rest  of  the  crew  remained 
prisoners  of  war  for  seven  years.  In  1814,  that 
is  immediately  after  the  treaty  at  Kiel,  he  with 
the  other  prisoners  was  released,  and  he  there 
upon  spent  a  year  in  London  in  the  employ  of 
a  prominent  Quaker  lady,  the  widow,  Margaret 
Allen,  mother  of  Joseph  and  William  Allen, 
who  at  that  time  held  high  positions  at  the  Eng 
lish  court.  During  the  period  of  his  imprison 
ment  and  during  his  subsequent  sojourn  in  Lon 
don,  Lars  Larson  had  acquired  a  pretty  thor 
ough  knowledge  of  the  English  language  and 


CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION.  47 

he  had  also  become  converted  to  the  Quaker 
religion.  Some  of  his  Norwegian  companions 
in  captivity  had  likewise  accepted  the  Quaker 
faith.  In  1816  Lars  Larson  returned  to  Nor 
way  and  he  and  his  friends  at  once  began  to 
make  propaganda  for  Quakerism  and  to  organ 
ize  a  society  of  Friends.  Two  of  them,  Enoch 
Jacobson  and  Halvor  Halvorson  went  to  Chris- 
tiania,  the  capital  of  Norway,  and  made  an  un 
successful  attempt  at  starting  a  Quaker  con 
gregation  there.  Lars  Larson  remained  in  his 
native  city  of  Stavanger,  and  there  he  and  Elias 
Tastad  and  Thomas  and  Metta  Hille  became 
the  founders  of  the  society  of  Friends  in  Nor 
way.  This  society  never  became  large  and 
never  spread  beyond  the  limits  of  Stavanger 
county,  but  it  still  flourishes  and  to-day  num 
bers  about  200  adult  members.  The  first 
Quaker  meeting  in  Norway  was  held  in  Lars 
Larson's  house  in  1816.  He  was  not  a  married 
man  at  the  time,  but  his  deaf  and  dumb  sister 
Sara  kept  house  for  him.  At  Christmas  in  1824, 
he  married  Martha  Georgiana  Peerson,  who 
was  born  October  10,  1803,  on  Fogn,  a  small 
island  near  Stavanger. 

During  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  speak 
ing,  Norway,  and  particularly  the  southwest 
coast  districts  contained  a  large  number  of 


48  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

semi-dissenters  from  the  established  church, 
the  so-called  Haugians  or  Headers,  followers 
of  Hans  Melson  Hauge,  a  reformer  born 
in  Smaalenene,  in  Norway,  April  3,  1771. 
Though  he  had  only  a  common  peasant's  edu 
cation  he  began  to  preach  in  1795.  He  pro 
tested  against  the  rationalism  and  seculariza 
tion  then  prevalent  among  the  clergy  of  Nor 
way.  He  advocated  the  right  of  laymen  to 
preach,  and  laid  special  stress  upon  the  spirit 
ual  priesthood  of  all  believers,  while  he  was 
on  the  other  hand  charged  with  an  ex 
travagant  undervaluation  of  an  educated  min 
istry,  of  ordination,  and  of  the  ceremonies 
adopted  by  the  state  church.  As  indicated, 
his  zeal  secured  him  many  followers,  particu 
larly  among  the  peasants,  who  did  not,  however, 
like  the  Quakers,  withdraw  from  the  estab 
lished  church.  Still  they  were  looked  upon  with 
disfavor  by  the  governing  class,  and  their  lead 
er,  Hans  Nielson  Hauge,  was  imprisoned  from 
1804  to  1814.  He  died  March  29,  1824.  It 
will  be  readily  seen  that  the  Haugians  looked 
upon  their  leader  as  a  martyr,  and  this  fact 
intensified  the  strained  relations  existing  be 
tween  the  Haugians  and  the  civil  and  religious 
rulers  of  the  kingdom.  I  mention  these  facts 
here  as  they  will  be  found  to  have  some  bear- 


CAUSES  OF  EM7GRATION.  49 

ing  on  the  story  which  is  f,o  be  told  in  this  vol 
ume. 

It  may  be  said  without  tlie  least  exaggeration 
that  many  of  the  government  officials,  not  only 
those  who  had  charge  of  secular  affairs,  but 
also  the  servants  of  the  church,  were  inclined 
to  be  arbitrary  and  overbearing,  and  all  dis 
senters  from  the  Lutheran  church,  which  was 
the  state  religion,  were  more  or  less  persecuted 
by  those  in  authority.  The  treatment,  accorded 
to  Hans  Nielson  Hauge  is  evidence  of  this.  Al 
though  he  was  guilty  of  no  crime  known  to 
the  code  of  morality,  and  although  he  was  one 
of  the  most  earnest  and  sincere  Christians  in 
all  the  land,  he,  like  John  Bunyan  in  England, 
was  made  to  languish  for  ten  long  years  within 
the  walls  of  a  prison,  simply  because  he  held 
profound  religious  views  and  insisted  on  prac 
tising  them.  All  the  followers  of  Hauge  were 
made  to  feel  more  or  less  the  keen  edge  of  scorn 
from  their  superiors.  But  the  persecution  of 
the  Quakers  is  particularly  a  dark  chapter  in 
the  modern  ecclesiastical  history  of  Norway. 
On  a  complaint  of  the  state  priest,  the  sheriff 
would  come  and  take  the  children  by  force  from 
Quaker  families  and  bring  them  to  the  priest 
to  be  baptized.  People  were  fined  for  not  go- 


50  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

ing  to  the  holy  communion.  Parents  were  com 
pelled  to  have  their  children  confirmed,  and 
even  the  dead  were  exhumed  from  their  graves 
in  order  that  they  might  be  buried  according 
to  the  Lutheran  ritual.  These  cruel  facts  are 
perfectly  authenticated,  and  there  is  not 
a  shadow  of  doubt  that  this  disgraceful  in 
tolerance  on  the  part  of  the  officials  in  Nor 
way,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Huguenots  in 
France  and  the  Puritans  in  England,  was 
one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  first  large 
exodus  from  Norway  to  the  United  States 
of  America.  The  very  fact  that  Norwegian  em 
igration  began  in  Stavanger  county,  and  that 
the  emigrants  wrere  dissenters  from  the  estab 
lished  church,  is  conclusive  proof  of  the  correct 
ness  of  this  view.  Here  it  was  that  Lars  Larson, 
Elias  Tastad  and  Thomas  and  Metta  Hille  had 
founded  the  Quaker  society.  In  the  city  of 
Stavanger  and  in  the  adjoining  county  many 
had  been  converted  to  the  Quaker  doctrine,  and 
there  were  no  Quakers  in  Norway  outside  of 
Stavanger  county.  As  in  all  lands  and  times, 
the  beginning  of  emigration  can  often  be  traced 
to  religious  intolerance  and  persecution.  Did 
not  France  lose  half  a  million  of  her  most  desir 
able  citizens  on  account  of  the  persecution  of 
the  Huguenots?  Did  not  the  Huguenots  flee  to 


CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION.  51 

Switzerland,  Holland,  England  and  to  Amer 
ica?  Wherever  they  settled  they  brought  with 
them  art  and  manufacture  and  the  refinements 
of  civilization,  and  so  they  enriched  their 
adopted  countries.  And  what  of  the  pilgrim 
fathers  who  landed  at  Plymouth  in  1620,  and 
founded  the  first  settlement  in  New  England? 
"Were  they  not  men  of  strong  minds,  good  judg 
ment,  and  sterling  character,  and  did  they  not 
rigidly  conform  their  lives  to  their  principles? 
Persecution  led  them  to  emigrate  and  in  New 
England  they  embodied  their  principles  in  a 
framework  of  government,  on  which,  as  a  most 
stable  foundation,  our  own  great  American 
republic  has  been  built  up.  History  repeats  it 
self  in  Norway  in  the  early  years  of  this  cen 
tury,  and  the  sloop,  Eestaurationen,  of  which 
we  are  soon  to  speak,  left  Norway  in  1825,  be 
cause  Quakers  were  not  permitted  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience.  The  story  of  William  Penn  is  re 
peated  in  Norway. 

Of  course  there  were  economic  reasons  also, 
and  the  emigrants  hoped  to  better  their  mate 
rial  as  well  as  their  religious  conditions.  It 
should  also  be  remembered  that  there  was  a 
wide-spread  feeling  of  suspicion  and  distrust 
among  the  common  folk  of  Norway  against  the 


52  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

officeholding  class.  There  were  many  unprin 
cipled  officials,  who  exacted  exorbitant  and 
even  unlawful  fees  for  their  services  and  with 
such  officials  ordinary  politeness  to  the  com 
mon  man  was  out  of  the  question.  Thus  pov 
erty,  oppression  on  the  part  of  the  officials,  and 
religious  persecution  cooperated  in  turning  the 
minds  of  the  people  in  Stavanger  city  and 
county  toward  the  land  of  freedom,  equality 
and  abundance  in  the  far  west. 

While  we  are  compelled  to  present  this 
gloomy  picture  of  conditions  in  Norway  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  we  are  happy  to  be 
able  to  state  that  things  have  changed  there 
since  then.  A  broad  religious  tolerance  has 
been  introduced,  the  best  kind  of  educational 
laws  have  been  enacted  and  the  official  class 
as  a  rule,  both  deserve  and  get  the  respect  of 
the  humblest  citizens.  Doubtless  the  large 
emigration  had  a  tendency  to  make  the  officials 
less  overbearing.  It  is  due  to  Norway  to  em 
phasize  the  fact  that  the  Norway  of  to-day  is 
in  no  way  subject  to  the  criticisms  we  have 
made  upon  the  Norway  of  the  first  half  and 
particularly  of  the  first  third  of  this  century. 

About  1840  a  more  humane  and  progressive 
spirit  began  to  control  the  legislators  and  gov 
ernment  of  Norway,  thanks  to  Henrik  Werge- 


CAUSES   OF   EMIGRATION.  53 

land,  to  Ole  Gabriel  Ueland,  to  Ole  Vig,  to 
A.  M.  Schweigaard  and  to  many  other  heroes  of 
reform,  and  a  number  of  laws  have  been  passed 
entirely  remodeling  the  old  and  narrow  insti 
tutions  of  Norway.  Laws  promoting  religious 
liberty  were  passed  in  1842,  in  1845,  and  in  1851. 
This  liberal  spirit  culminated  in  the  abolition 
of  the  constitutional  provision  against  the 
right  of  Jews  to  reside  in  Norway.  In  line  with 
this  progress,  trial  tiy  jury  was  adopted  in  1887, 
and  introduced  in  1890.  The  tendency  since 
1840,  has  been  steadily  toward  more  freedom 
and  larger  opportunities  for  all  classes  of  cit 
izens. 

The  emigration  from  Stavanger  afterwards 
inspired  people  in  other  parts  of  Norway  to 
leave  the  fatherland  and  seek  homes  in  Amer 
ica.  In  each  succeeding  group  there  was  a 
pioneer,  a  leader,  and  several  of  these  leaders 
will  be  more  or  less  fully  presented  and  dis 
cussed. 

While  .each  exodus  down  into  the  forties  is 
a  link  in  a  chain  beginning  with  the  sloop, 
Restaurationen,  and  while  religious  persecution 
was  one  of  the  chief  causes  that  led  to  its  de 
parture,  we  shall  try  to  point  out  what  circum 
stances  were  mainly  influential  in  promoting 
emigration  from  the  various  districts,  and  in 


54  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

this  connection  we  shall  call  attention  to  fully 
a  dozen  persons  who  are  to  be  remembered  by 
posterity  as  the  fathers  and  promoters  of  Nor 
wegian  emigration,  as  the  pioneers  and  found 
ers  of  Norwegian  settlements  in  America  and  as 
the  first  ministers  to  the  spiritual  and  intellect 
ual  wants  of  the  Norwegians  in  the  country  of 
their  adoption.  In  some  cases  we  shall  let  the 
emigrants  themselves  tell  how  and  why  they 
came  to  America. 


III. 
The  Sloop  Restaurationen. 

All  reports  agree  that  Kleng  Peerson,  from 
the  farm  Hesthammer,  Tysver  parish,  Skjold 
district,  Stavanger  county,  was  the  man  who 
gave  the  first  impetus  to  the  emigration  of  the 
Norwegians  to  America.  In  the  year  1821, 
he  with  a  comrade,  Knud  Olson  Eie,  or  more 
properly  Eide,  from  the  small  island  Fogn,  near 
Stavanger,  left  Norway  and  went  by  the  way 
of  Gothenborg,  Sweden,  to  New  York  to  make 
an  investigation  of  conditions  and  opportuni 
ties  in  America.  From  all  the  information  I 
have  been  able  to  gather,  and  I  have  inter 
viewed  a  large  number  of  the  oldest  Norwe- 


THE  SLOOP  RESTAURATIONEN.  55 

gian  settlers  in  America,  there,  remains  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  Kleng  and  Knud  were 
practically  sent  on  this  mission  by  the  Quakers 
of  Stavanger  county.  It  is  nowhere  positively 
stated  that  Peerson  and  Eide  were  themselves 
Quakers,  but  I  have  complete  evidence  from 
persons  who  knew  both  of  them  well  that  they 
were  dissenters  from  the  established  church. 
Kleng  Peerson  was  strongly  attached  to  the 
Quakers  and  doubtless  sympathized  with  their 
religious  views,  so  far  as  he  gave  religion  any 
thought,  but  neither  Peerson  nor  Eide  had  at 
this  time  (1821)  any  very  pronounced  religious 
convictions.  While  they  dissented  from  the 
state  church  they  had  not  accepted  the  tenets 
of  any  other.  They  appear  to  have  lacked  to 
a  great  extent  the  religious  temperament.  Later 
on  I  shall  have  occasion  to  discuss  this  subject 
more  fully,  as  I  intend  to  present  as  full  an 
account  as  possible  of  the  character  and  career 
of  Kleng  Peerson. 

After  a  sojourn  of  three  years  in  America, 
all  that  time  presumably  spent  in  and  around 
New  York  city,  where  they  did  such  work  as 
they  could  find,  Kleng  Peerson,  being  a  carpen 
ter  by  trade,  they  returned  to  Stavanger  and 
to  Tysver  in  1824.  Here  their  reports  of  social, 
political  and  'religious  conditions  in  America 


56  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

and  their  description  of  opportunities  in  the 
New  World  awakened  the  greatest  interest  and 
culminated  in  a  resolution  to  emigrate.  Lars 
Larson  (i  Jeilane),  the  same  man  at  whose  house 
the  first  Quaker  meeting  had  been  held  in 
Stavanger  in  1816,  at  once  undertook  to  organ 
ize  a  party  of  emigrants.  Being  successful  in 
finding  a  number  of  people  who  were  ready  and 
willing  to  join  him,  six  heads  of  families  con 
verted  their  scanty  worldly  possessions  into 
money  and  purchased  a  sloop  which  had  been 
built  in  the  Hardanger  fjord,  between  Stav 
anger  and  Bergen,  and  which  they  loaded  with 
a  cargo  of  iron.  For  this  sloop  and  cargo  they 
paid  the  sum  of  $1,800.00  (Norwegian  money). 
While  six  of  the  party  owned  some  stock  in  this 
vessel  the  largest  share  was  held  by  Lars  Lar 
son,  who  was  in  all  respects  the  leader  of  the 
enterprise.  He  had  acquired  a  pretty  thor 
ough  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  dur 
ing  his  eight  years'  sojourn  in  England,  and  the 
general  supervision  of  the  preparations  and  of 
the  voyage  naturally  fell  into  his  intelligent 
hands.  The  captain,  Lars  Olson  and  the  mate 
Erikson  were  engaged  by  him. 

This  little  Norwegian  Mayflower  of  the  nine 
teenth  century  received  the  name  Kestaura- 
tionen  (The  Restoration),  and  on  the  American 


THE   SLOOP   EESTAURATIONEN.  57 

day  of  independence,  July  4,  1825,  this  brave 
little  company  of  emigrants  sailed  out  of  the 
harbor  of  the  ancient  and  grotesque  city  of 
Stavanger.  The  company  consisted  of  fifty- 
two  persons  including  the  two  officers  men 
tioned,  chiefly  from  Stavanger  city  and  Tysver 
parish  north  of  Stavanger.  There  were  also  a 
few  from  other  parts  of  Stavanger  county. 
They  were  fifty-two  when  they  left  Stavanger; 
but  when  they  reached  New  York,  on  the  sec 
ond  Sunday  of  October  (Oct.  9),  they  numbered 
fifty-three,  Mrs.  Martha  Georgiana  Larson,  the 
wife  of  the  leader,  having  given  birth  to  a  beau 
tiful  girl  baby  on  the  second  of  September. 

Their  fourteen  weeks'  journey  across  the 
Atlantic  ocean  was  a  romantic  and  perilous 
one.  The  stories  of  that  voyage  told  to  me  by 
one  of  the  party  were  the  delight  of  my  child 
hood.  They  passed  through  the  British  Chan 
nel,  and  a  few  days  later  they  anchored  in  a 
small  harbor  named  Lisett  on  the  coast  of  Eng 
land,  where  they  remained  until  the  next  day. 
Here  they  began  to  sell  liquor  to  the  inhabit 
ants,  which  was  against  the  law,  and  when 
they  perceived  the  danger  in  which  they  had 
thus  placed  themselves,  they  made  haste  to 
steer  the  little  craft  out  upon  ;the  boundless 
ocean.  They  either  must  have  lost  their  reck- 


58  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

oning,  or  been  looking  for  the  trade-winds,  OP 
the  captain  must  have  been  somewhat  deficient 
in  his  knowledge  of  navigation,  or  to  take  a 
more  charitable  view  of  the  case,  the  wind  must 
have  been  against  them,  for  when  we  next  hear 
of  them  we  find  them  drifting  into  the  harbor 
of  Funchal  in  the  island  of  Madeira.  Near  the 
Madeira  islands  they  had  found  a  pipe  of  wine 
floating  on  the  sea.  It  must  have  been  very  old 
wine,  for  the  cask  in  which  it  was  contained 
was  entirely  covered  with  huge  barnacles. 
Lars  Larson  got  out  in  the  yawl  boat  to  fish  it 
up  and  while  he  was  putting  a  rope  around 
the  pipe,  a  shark  came  near  biting  his  hand  off. 
To  celebrate  this  piece  of  good  fortune  both 
the  officers  and  passengers  had  to  taste  of  the 
delicious  contents  of  the  pipe  of  wine  and  the 
result  was  that  the  most  of  them  got  more  or 
less  under  its  influence.  They  consequently 
neglected  their  duties  to  the  sloop,  and  came 
drifting  into  the  harbor  of  Funchal  without 
colors  and  without  command.  Here  it  was 
feared  that  they  had  some  kind  of  contagious 
disease  on  board  and  one  of  the  officers  of  a  Bre 
men  vessel  anchored  in  the  harbor,  shouted  to 
them  that  if  they  did  not  wish  to  be  greeted 
by  the  cannon  already  being  aimed  at  them 
from  the  fortress,  they  had  better  hoist  their 


THE  SLOOP   RESTAURATIONEN.  59 

colors  at  once.  Thornstein  Olson  Bjaadland,  who 
was  for  many  years  my  neighbor  in  Wisconsin 
never  grew  weary  of  telling  me  this  story  and 
he  always  added  that  it  was  he  who  hunted  up 
the  Norwegian  flag  which  had  been  stowed 
away  with  other  baggage,  and  with  the  assist 
ance  of  others  ran  it  up  to  the  top  of  the  mast,, 
thus  averting  the  danger.  A  couple  of  custom 
house  officers  then  came  on  board  the  sloop  and 
made  an  investigation,  finding  everything  in 
good  order.  Much  attention  was  shown  to  the 
party  at  Funchal.  The  American  consul  in 
creased  their  store  of  provisions,  giving  them 
also  an  abundance  of  grapes,  and  before  their 
departure,  he  invited  the  whole  sloop  party  to 
a  magnificent  dinner.  They  arrived  in  Funchal 
on  Thursday,  July  28,  and  left  the  following 
Sunday,  July  31,  and  as  they  sailed  out  of  the 
harbor  the  fortress  fired  a  salute  in  their  honor. 
Four  weeks  had  passed  since  they  left  Sta- 
vanger  and  for  ten  weary  weeks  more  the  sloop 
had  to  contend  with  the  angry  waves  of  the 
rough  Atlantic.  It  may  be  added  here  that 
only  the  captain  and  mate  were  seamen  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  word;  but  Lars  Larson  was 
by  trade  a  ship-carpenter,  and  the  most  of  the 
other  adult  men  on  board  having  been  reared 


BO  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

on  the  coast  of  Norway  as  fishermen,  were  nat 
urally  familiar  with  the  sea. 

In  New  York  quite  a  sensation  was  awakened 
by  the  fact  that  these  Norwegians  had  ventured 
across  the  ocean  in  so  small  a  craft.  Such  a 
thing  had  not  been  heard  of  before.  Here  they 
also  got  into  trouble  with  the  authorities  on 
account  of  having  a  larger  cargo  and  a  larger 
number  of  passengers  than  the  American  laws 
permitted  a  ship  of  the  size  of  the  sloop  to  carry 
and  in  consequence  of  this  violation  of  Uncle 
Sam's  laws  Capt.  Lars  Olson  was  arrested  and 
the  ship  with  its  cargo  was  seized  by  the  cus 
tom  house  authorities  in  New  York. 

But  what  has  become  of  Kleng  Peerson  and 
Knud  Olson  Eide?  They  were  not  passengers 
in  the  sloop.  Knud  Olson  is  said  by  some 
with  whom  I  have  talked  and  corresponded 
to  have  remained  in  Norway  until  1837, 
when  he  again  emigrated  to  America  in  the 
ship  "Enigheden"  (Unity)  from  Egersund 
via  Stavanger,  a  small  seaport  south  of 
Stavanger.  In  the  summer  of  1894,  I  met  and 
conversed^  with  Ole  Thompson  (Thorbjornson) 
Eide  now  residing  at  Sheridan,  Illinois.  Te 
came  from  the  same  place  in  Norway,  that  is 
from  the  farm  Eide  on  the  island  Fogn  north  of 


THE   SLOOP  REST AURATIO WEN.  61 

Stavanger,  and  was  also  a  passenger  in  the 
same  ship  with  Knud  Olson  Eide  from  Sta 
vanger  in  1837.  Ole  Thompson  Eide  was  unable 
to  give  me  any  account  of  Knud  after  they 
reached  Eochester,  New  York.  I  afterwards 
met  Mr.  Hans  Valder  (Vselde)  from  Vats  parish, 
Skjold  district  in  Norway.  He  also  went  on 
board  "Enigheden"  in  Stavanger  in  1837  and 
consequently  was  a  fellow  passenger  with  Knud 
Olson  Eide.  He  informs  me  that  when  they 
arrived  in  New  York,  Knud  Eide  could  get  no 
further  from  lack  of  funds.  Hans  Valder  did  all 
he  could  for  him  and  talked  to  the  other  pas 
sengers  in  his  behalf.  Knud  Eide  cried  like 
a  child  and  a  collection  was  taken  up  for  him, 
"and"  adds  Hans  Valder,  "he  came  with  us  as 
far  as  Kochester,  N.  Y.  There  he  was  left  with 
a  wife  and  three  or  four  children.  I  learned 
since  that  his  daughters  got  married,  but  I  do 
not  know  where  they  reside."  Mr.  C.  Danielson 
Valle  from  Aurland  in  Norway  also  came  in 
the  same  ship  in  1837.  By  him  I  am  told  that 
"Knud  Eide  went  from  Rochester  to  Michigan. 
His  wife  died  there.  He  married  again  and  had 
a  number  of  children.  He  became  a  farmer." 
As  he  does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  further 
influence  upon  Norwegian  settlements  in  Amer 
ica,  we  might  safely  drop  him  here;  but  from 


€2  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

documents  received  from  New  York  and  which 
I  shall  present  to  my  readers  later  on,  I  have 
a,  strong  suspicion  that  the  Knud  Olson  Eide, 
who  came  in  "Enigheden"  in  1837,  may  after 
all  not  have  been  the  same  Knud  Eide  who  ac 
companied  Kleng  Peerson  on  his  first  visit  to 
America  in  1821.  According  to  New  York  pa 
pers  published  in  1825,  Kleng  Peerson's  com 
rade  died  in  America  before  Kleng  returned 
to  Norway  in  1824,  and  accordingly  Kleng  may 
have  gone  back  to  Norway  alone. 

That  a  man  by  name  Knud  Olson  Eide  came 
to  America  in  "Enigheden"  in  1837  is  certain. 
On  this  point  we  have  the  concurring  testimony 
of  Ole  Thompson,  Hans  Valder  and  Chr.  Dan- 
ielson.  The  only  question  is  whether  he  was 
the  same  Knud  Olson  Eide  that  accompanied 
Kleng  Peerson  to  America  in  1821.  I  am  sorry 
that  I  am  unable  to  give  a  definite  answer.  I 
do  not  see  how  the  New  York  papers  could 
fabricate  an  account  of  the  death  of  Kleng 
Peerson's  comrade,  while  I  do  see  how  there 
might  easily  be  two  persons  by  the  name  Knud 
Olson  Eide  from  the  island  Fogn.  I  shall  con 
tinue  my  investigations  into  this  matter. 

But  Kleng  Peerson  was  in  America  when 
the  sloop  Eestaurationen  arrived  there.  In 
stead  of  risking  his  life  in  the  sloop  he  had 


THE   SLOOP  RESTAURATIONEN  63 

again  gone  by  the  way  of  Gothenborg,  Sweden, 
and  was  already  in  New  York  ready  to  receive 
his  friends  and  to  give  them  such  assistance  as 
he  was  able.  He  had  found  Quakers  in  New 
York,  who  were  prepared  to  give  our  Norwegian 
pilgrims  a  welcome  and  such  help  as  they  most 
needed.  I  suppose  the  authorities  in  New  York 
partly  in  consideration  of  the  ignorance  and 
childish  conduct  of  the  sloop  immigrants,  and 
partly  pursuaded  by  the  intercession  of  influen 
tial  Quaker  friends,  decided  to  be  merciful. 
The  fact,  at  all  events,  is  that  the  captain  was 
released  from  his  captivity;  and  the  sloop  and 
its  cargo  were  restored  to  their  owners. 

I  have  it  from  the  lips  of  passengers  who 
came  in  the  sloop,  that  the  Quakers  in  New 
York  took  a  deep  interest  in  these  Norwegian 
newcomers,  who  were  well-nigh  destitute  of 
food,  clothing  and  money.  These  Friends  gave 
many  of  them  shelter  under  their  own  roofs,  and 
supplied  them  with  money  to  relieve  their  most 
pressing  needs.  The  Quakers  showed  them 
selves  in  this  case  as  everywhere  in  history  to 
be  friends  indeed.  Mrs.  Atwater,  the  lady  who 
was  born  on  the  sloop,  has  told  me,  on  the  pos 
itive  authority  of  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lars  Larson,  how  kind  the  Quakers  in  New 
York  were  to  her  parents  and  to  all  the  sloop 


64  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

people.  Enough  money  was  raised  by  the 
Quakers  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  immigrants, 
six  dollars  for  each  from  New  York  city  to  the 
town  of  Kendall  in  Orleans  county,  New  York, 
where  farms  could  be  secured  for  them. 

From  the  History  of  Orleans  County,  by  Arad 
Thomas,  I  learn  that  a  man  by  name  Joseph 
Fellows,  had  been  appointed  agent  to  sell  a 
tract  of  land  in  Kendall:  Mr.  Fellows  was  a 
Quaker,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  in  New  York 
city  about  the  time  the  Eestaurationen  arrived 
there,  and  I  presume  it  was  he  who  suggested 
the  idea  of  locating  these  Norwegian  immi 
grants  on  this  land,  and  in  this  manner  the  first 
Norwegian  settlement  in  America  in  this  century 
was  founded. 

The  captain,  Lars  Olson,  and  the  mate,  Mr. 
Erikson,  who  by  the  way  was  the  only  one  in 
the  sloop  party  from  Bergen,  Norway,  remained 
in  New  York,  and  at  this  point  my  knowledge 
of  these  two  persons  ends.  The  leader  of  the 
party,  Lars  Larson,  sent  his  wife  and  daughter 
on  with  the  rest  of  the  sloop  party  to  Kendall, 
but  he  himself  remained  for  several  weeks  in 
New  York  city,  to  dispose  of  the  sloop  and  its 
cargo.  He  finally  succeeded  in  selling  both 
for  the  paltry  sum  of  four  hundred  dollars. 
By  this  time  winter  had  set  in  and  in  the  early 


THE   SLOOP   RESTAURATIONEN.  65 

days  of  December  he  set  out  to  join  his  family. 
The  canal  was  frozen  and  he  had  to  skate  from 
Albany  to  Holley  in  Orleans  county,  23  miles 
west  of  Rochester.  He  did  not  remain  with 
the  colony  in  Kendall,  but  went  with  his  family 
back  to  Rochester,  where  he  soon  obtained  em 
ployment  from  a  canal-boat  builder.  He  pros 
pered  and  in  a  short  time  he  was  able  to  go  into 
business  for  himself  as  a  canal-boat  builder. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  he  had  been  a  ship- 
carpenter  in  Norway  and  both  by  his  knowledge 
of  English  and  by  his  trade  he  was  equipped 
for  his  new  occupation. 

Lars  Larson  is  described  as  a  rather  small 
man,  with  a  smooth,  intelligent  face,  with  dark 
hair  which  turned  gray  very  early.  He  was 
a  kind  husband  and  good  father,  in  short,  a  man 
of  good  habits  and  large-hearted.  His  home 
in  Rochester  was  hospitality  itself.  In  the 
years  from  1836  to  1845  he  received  visits  from 
thousands  of  Norwegians,  who  were  on  their 
way  from  Norway  to  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
They  brought  him  fresh  news  from  Norway  and 
from  him  they  received  valuable  information 
and  advice  concerning  America.  His  canal- 
boat  business  prospered,  and  already  in  1827  he 
was  able  to  build  for  himself  and  family  a  very 
5 


66  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

substantial  home  in  Rochester,  a  house  which 
still  stands  on  the  original  site  and  which,  with 
out  doubt,  is  the  oldest  house  now  in  existence, 
built  in  America  by  a  Norwegian  Argonaut  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  I  am  most  happy  to 
be  able  to  give  a  picture  of  this  house  from  a 
photograph  recently  taken. 

Lars  Larson  lost  his  life  by  an  accident  No 
vember  13,  1845,  while  on  his  way  to  New  York 
with  a  canal-boat,  which  he  intended  to  sell. 
There  is  also  a  suspicion  that  he  was  foully 
dealt  with.  He  died  from  a  fall  from  the  boat 
into  the  canal,  and  his  family  believe  that  some 
one  must  have  struck  him  and  pushed  him  over 
board.  There  never  was  a  thorough  investiga 
tion  into  this  matter,  and  I  simply  report  the 
views  of  the  children  now  living.  He  had  given 
his  children  a  good  education,  and  on  his  death 
he  left  them  not  a  fortune,  but  a  handsome  com 
petency  for  maintaining  the  old  home.  His 
widow,  Martha  Georgiana,  a  woman  of  great 
intelligence  and  force  of  character,  lived  to  a 
ripe  old  age.  I  met  her  in  1875,  and  was  struck 
with  her  stateliness  and  commanding  dignity. 
She  had  become  entirely  Americanized,  but  still 
spoke  her  old  Stavanger  dialect  with  ease  and 
fluency.  Her  death  occurred  in  Rochester,  Oc 
tober  17,  1887. 


THE   SLOOP   RESTAURATIONEN.  67 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Larson  left  eight  children,  six 
girls  and  two  boys,  all  of  whom  are  living  and 
all  married  but  one.  Their  oldest  child  was 
born  on  the  sloop  Kestaurationen  in  the  middle 
of  the  Atlantic  ocean,  September  2,  1825.  This 
was  a  girl  whom  they  named  Margaret  Allen, 
after  the  Quaker  widow  with  whom  Lars  Lar 
son  had  lived  for  a  year  or  more  in  London,  and 
through  whose  influence  he  had  embraced  the 
Quaker  faith.  Margaret  Allen  married  in  1857 
John  Atwater,  of  Rochester,  who  afterwards 
became  a  prominent  publisher  in  Chicago.  Mr. 
Atwater  died  a  few  years  ago,  but  the  famous 
sloop  girl,  now  in  her  seventieth  year,  is  still 
alive  and  well.  She  resides  at  Western  Springs, 
in  Cook  county,  Illinois,  where  she  has  a  com 
fortable  home  and  is  surrounded  by  a  family 
of  bright  and  happy  children.  Her  son  John 
has  a  large  business  in  Chicago,  and  also  serves 
as  pastor  of  one  of  the  churches  in  Western 
Springs 

Lars  Larson's  other  children  are:  Inger 
Marie,  born  February  18,  1827,  married 
to  William  F.  McFadden,  a  Canadian,  and  now 
residing  at  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Lydia  Glazier, 
born  November  18,  1828,  married  to  F.  C.  Whit- 
telsey  and  residing  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.;  Elias 
Tastad,  born  July  9, 1830,  married  to  an  Ameri- 


68  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

can  woman  and  residing  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.; 
Martha  Jane,  born  July  30,  1832,  married  to 
Elias  C.  Patterson,  an  inventor  of  New  York, 
who  died  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  1879.  She  now 
resides  at  Western  Springs,  111.  Clara  Elisabeth, 
born  July  30,  1834,  married  to  Alfred  Willets, 
and  residing  in  Union  Rei,  Mich.;  George  Mar 
ion,  born  July  8,  1841,  married  a  Swedish 
woman  and  residing  in  Lakeside,  Mich.;  he  is  a 
physician.  Georgiana  Henrietta,  born  June  19, 
1845,  unmarried,  and  keeping  the  old  Rochester 
home  which  belongs  to  the  family. 

Martha  Jane  Patterson  who,  as  mentioned 
above,  was  born  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  1832, 
has  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  first  persons 
of  the  Norwegian  group  of  our  population 
known  to  have  taught  in  our  public  schools. 
She  began  teaching  in  Rochester  during  vaca 
tion  in  1844,  when  she  was  only  twelve  years 
old  and  had  about  twenty  scholars  who  paid 
her  ten  cents  a  week  each.  She  then  attended 
a  ladies'  seminary  and  became  assistant 
teacher  in  it  in  1848.  In  the  spring  of  1850 
she  taught  a  public  country  school  in  Ken 
dall,  Orleans  county,  N.  Y.,  in  what  many 
called  New  Norway.  In  the  spring  of  1851 
she  taught  at  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  she  was  given  a 


THE   SLOOP   RESTAURATIONEN.  69 

position  in  one  of  the  public  schools  of  Roches 
ter,  N.  Y.  She  came  west  in  1857  and  entered 
the  public  schools  of  Chicago  as  a  teacher.  Her 
name  deserves  to  be  remembered  on  that  ac 
count.  Many  a  Miss  Larson  or  Miss 
Olson  has  given  instruction  in  our  American 
common  school,  but  Martha  Jane  Larson  was 
among  the  first. 

Although  New  York  was  a  large  city  in  1825 
and  although  its  port  was  visited  by  strangers 
from  every  part  of  the  known  world,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  this  first  coming  of  emigrants  from 
Norway  and  that,  too,  under  such  peculiar  cir 
cumstances  would  scarcely  be  left  wholly  un 
noticed  by  the  New  York  press.  I  had  a  curios 
ity  to  know  what  impression  these  first  Norwe 
gian  immigrants  to  the  United  States  in  this 
century  made  upon  the  newspaper  reporters, 
and  accordingly  induced  my  friend,  Mr.  Robert 
Lilley,  the  managing  editor  of  Johnson's  Uni 
versal  Cyclopaedia,  to  institute  a  search  for  me. 
The  search  was  not  in  vain.  The  sloop  Restau- 
rationen  did  attract  the  notice  of  the  press,  and 
I  offer  no  apology  for  reproducing  here  every 
word  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  in  New  York 
papers  in  regard  to  this  first  company  of  Nor 
wegian  immigrants. 

The  Commercial  Advertiser  for  Monday,  Octo- 


70  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ber  10,  reports  in  its  Marine  List:  "Arr.  Danish 
Sloop  Restoration,  Holland,  78  days  from  Nor 
way,  via  Long  Island  Sound,  with  Iron  to  Boor- 
man  and  Johnston.  52  passengers."  The  curi 
ous  mistakes  will  be  easily  detected  by  the 
reader.  The  ship  was  not  Danish,  it  did  not 
come  from  Holland  and  the  number  of  passen 
gers  should  be  fifty-three.  The  same  notice  ap 
pears  verbatim  in  the  marine  list  of  the  New 
York  Gazette  Monday,  October  10, 1825,  and  also 

in  the  marine  list  of  the  New  York  National  Ad- 

« 

vocate  of  the  same  date,  and  in  the  marine  list 
of  the  New  York  Daily  Advertiser  of  the  same 
date,  the  last  paper  having  the  addition  "spoke 
nothing." 

In  the  New  York  Daily  Advertiser  of  Wednes 
day,  October  12,  1825,  we  find  the  following 
most  interesting  notice,  headed  "A  Novel  Sight. 
A  vessel  has  arrived  at  this  port  with  emigrants 
from  Norway.  The  vessel  is  very  small,  meas 
uring  as  we  understand  only  about  360  Norwe 
gian  lasts  or  forty-five  American  tons,  and 
brought  forty-six  passengers,  male  and  female, 
all  bound  to  Ontario  county,  where  an  agent, 
who  came  over  some  time  since,  purchased  a 
tract  of  land.  The  appearance  of  such  a  party 
of  strangers,  coming  from  so  distant  a  country 
and  in  a  vessel  of  a  size  apparently  ill  calculated 


THB   SLOOP  RESTAURATIONEN.  71 

for  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  could  not  but 
excite  an  unusual  degree  of  interest  They 
have  had  a  voyage  of  fourteen  weeks  and  are 
all  in  good  health  and  spirits.  An  enterprise 
like  this  argues  a  good  deal  of  boldness  in  the 
master  of  the  vessel  as  well  as  an  adventurous 
spirit  in  the  passengers,  most  of  whom  belong 
to  families  from  the  vicinity  of  a  little  town  at 
the  southwestern  extremity  of  Norway,  near 
Cape  Stavanger.  Those  who  came  from  the 
farms  are  dressed  in  coarse  cloths  of  domestic 
manufacture,  of  a  fashion  different  from  the 
American,  but  those  who  inhabited  the  town 
wear  calicos,  ginghams  and  gay  shawls,  im 
ported,  we  presume,  from  England.  The  vessel 
is  built  on  the  model  common  to  fishing  boats 
on  that  coast,  with  a  single  mast  and  topsail, 
sloop-rigged.  She  passed  through  the  English 
channel  and  as  far  south  as  Madeira,  where  she 
stopped  three  or  four  days  and  then  steered  di 
rectly  for  New  York,  where  she  arrived  with 
the  addition  of  one  passenger  born  on  the  way. 
"It  is  the  captain's  intention  to  remain  in  this 
country,  to  sell  his  vessel  and  prepare  himself 
to  navigate  our  waters  by  entering  the  Amer 
ican  Merchant  Service  and  to  learn  the 


guage." 


This  is  doubtless  a  very  faithful  description 


72  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

of  the  facts.  The  reporter  is  mistaken  in  re 
gard  to  the  number  of  the  passengers  and  the 
destination  of  these  immigrants.  They  were 
not  bound  for  Ontario  but  for  Orleans  county. 
In  the  same  paper,  New  York  Daily  Advertiser, 
for  Saturday,  October  15,  1825,  we  find  this  ad- 
additional  notice  of  the  sloop  party:  "The  cap 
tain  and  passengers  of  the  sloop  Kestoration 
from  Norway,  desire  in  this  public  manner,  to 
express  their  grateful  thanks  to  John  H.  March, 
Esq.,  American  Consul  at  the  island  of  Madeira, 
for  his  humane  and  generous  relief,  when  com 
pelled  to  touch  at  that  place  for  refreshment 
after  a  long  and  perilous  voyage,  and  to  the  in 
habitants  of  that  island  for  the  kind  and  hos 
pitable  manner  in  which  they  entertained  desti 
tute  strangers  [New  Jerk  National  Advertiser]." 

The  New  Jork  American,  Monday  evening,  Oc 
tober  10,  1825,  contains  the  following  notice: 
"Marine  Journal,  Port  of  New  York.  Arr.  Dan 
ish  sloop  Kestoration,  Holland.  78  days  from 
Norway  via  Long  Island  Sound,  with  iron  to 
Boorman  &  Johnston,  forty-two  passengers." 

It  appears  that  the  American  has  the  number 
of  passengers  reduced  to  forty-two. 

The  notice,  entitled  A  Novel  Sight,  I  find  was 
extensively  reprinted  by  the  newspapers  of  the 
country.  I  have  found  it  reproduced  in  whole 


THE   SLOOP   RESTAURATIONEN.  73 

OP  in  part  in  Boston,  Cooperstown  (N.  Y.),  in 
Philadelhpia,  Rochester  and  Cincinnati  papers 
for  the  year  1825. 

On  Saturday  evening,  October  22,  1825,  The 
New  York  American  contained  the  following 
clipping  from  the  Baltimore  American: 

"The  public  have  already  been  interested  in 
the  account  which  we  republished  from  a  New 
York  paper  on  Saturday  last  (October  15)  rela 
tive  to  the  arrival  of  a  vessel  from  Norway. 
This  vessel  of  only  forty-five  American  tons 
burden  contained  forty-six  passengers,  male 
and  female,  bound  to  Ontario  county,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  where  an  agent  had  already 
been  sent  who  had  contracted  for  the  purchase 
of  the  land.  They  set  sail  from  Cape  Stavanger 
and  after  a  voyage  of  fourteen  weeks,  arrived 
in  safety.  We  have  learned  some  particulars 
with  regard  to  the  agent  who  was  sent  over 
here  on  this  business,  calculated  to  set  his  char 
acter  in  a  very  interesting  light.  Two  agents 
were  originally  sent  over  by  the  company  and 
funds  appropriated  to  defray  the  expense. 
These  funds,  we  understand,  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  man,  who  was  afterwards  unfortu 
nate  in  business.  They  then  found  themselves 
in  a  strange  land,  among  a  people  of  different 
laws,  customs,  and  language,  with  all  of  which 


74  iNTORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

they  were  unacquainted.    Determined  notwith 
standing  to  fulfil  the  object  of  their  mission, 
they  resolutely  set  out  on  their  enquiries,  la 
boring  with  their  own  hands  to  defray  their 
expenses.     They  proceeded  in  this  manner  until 
one  was  seized  with  a  malady  which  brought 
him  to  his  grave.     During  all  the  time  of  his 
sickness  his  confederate,  independent  of  watch 
ing  by  his  bedside  and  performing  those  kind 
offices  so  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  a  dying 
man,  procured  the  best  medical  attendance,  still 
laboring  with  his  own  hands  for  his  support 
and   debarring  himself  of  the  comforts  of  life,  to 
administer  to  the  necessities  of  his  friend.  After 
the  decease  of  his  friend,  the  survivor  left  as  he 
was  solitary  and  alone,  proceeded  on  foot  to 
examine  the  country,  the  character  of  the  dif 
ferent  soils,  our  mode  of  agriculture,  engaging 
without  any  hesitation  at  any  kind  of  employ 
ment  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  day, 
by  which  means  he  obtained  a  knowledge  of  our 
customs,  laws,  language  and  agriculture.     In 
this  manner  he  scoured  the  vast  regions  of  the 
west  and  left  a  journal  from  day  to  day,  which 
in  due  time  he  transmitted  to  the  company,  by 
whom  he  was  sent  to  make  the  examination. 
This  report  was  so  favorable  that  the  little  col 
ony  have  at    length    arrived    here,    to    settle 


THE   SLOOP  RESTAURATIONEN.  75 

amongst  us,  and  to  assume  the  character  of 
American  citizens.  They  belong  to  a  religion 
called  the  Saints,  corresponding  in  many  points 
to  the  principles  of  the  Friends.  We  under 
stand  furthermore  that  they  have  sought  an 
asylum  in  this  favored  land  from  religious  per 
secution  and  that  they  will  shortly  be  succeeded 
by  a  much  larger  body  of  emigrants." 

The  agent  here  referred  to  is,  of  course,  Kleng 
Peerson.  The  reader  will  find  some  romance 
in  the  story,  but  what  it  corroborates  are  the 
facts,  that  Kleng  Peerson  was  an  advance  agent 
of  the  sloop  party,  that  these  people  were  Qua 
kers  and  complained  of  religious  persecutions, 
and  that  they  expected  more  to  follow  them 
from  Norway. 

When  I  received  these  documents  from  New 
York  I  got  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  possible 
clue  to  the  fate  of  Knud  Olson  Eide,  Kleng's 
companion  to  America  in  1821.  The  reader 
will  agree  with  me  that  there  is  a  possibility 
if  not  a  strong  probability  that  the  person  re 
ferred  to  by  the  Baltimore  American  as  having 
died  is  the  Knud  Olson  Eide,  who  came  with 
Kleng  Peerson,  and  that  the  Knud  Olson  Eide 
who  came  in  "Enigheden"  in  1837  is  another 
person  altogether.  Patience  and  perseverance 
may  yet  unravel  this  mystery. 


76  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

The  New  York  Evening  Post,  for  Tuesday, 
October  25,  1825,  contains  the  following,  copied 
from  the  Albany  Patriot  of  October  24: 

"On  Saturday,  as  we  are  informed,  the  Nor 
wegian  emigrants,  that  lately  arrived  in  a  small 
vessel  at  New  York,  passed  through  this  city, 
on  their  way  to  their  place  of  destination. 
They  appear  to  be  quite  pleased  with  what  they 
see  in  this  country,  if  we  may  judge  from  their 
good-humored  countenances.  Success  attend 
their  efforts  in  this  asylum  of  the  oppressed !" 

This  shows  that  our  immigrants  were  already 
on  their  way  to  Orleans  county,  N.  Y.  The 
reader  will  probably  agree  with  me  that  these 
first  glimpses  of  Norwegian  immigrants  in  clip 
pings  from  the  American  press  of  the  day  are 
most  interesting  and  precious  and  well  worthy 
of  being  reproduced  and  preserved.  Imagine 
my  happiness  when  I  received  these  newspaper 
clippings  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Robert  Lilley! 


THE    FIRST   SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA.          77 


IV. 

The  First  Norwegian  Settlement  in  America. 

We  may  now  go  back  and  pick  up  the  thread 
of  our  story  again  in  Kendall,  Orleans  county, 
New  York,  where  we  left  the  majority  of  the 
sloop  party  in  the  fall  of  1825.  Kendall  is  in 
the  northeast  corner  of  Orleans  county  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Ontario.  Here  land  was  sold  to 
the  Norwegians  by  Joseph  Fellows  at  five  dol 
lars  an  acre;  but  as  they  had  no  money  to  pay 
for  it,  Mr.  Fellows  agreed  to  let  them  redeem 
it  in  ten  annual  installments.  The  land  was 
heavily  wooded  and  each  head  of  a  family  and 
adult  person  purchased  forty  acres.  During  the 
first  year  they  suffered  great  privations.  The 
clearing  of  the  forests  required  hard  work. 
They  longed  to  get  back  to  old  Norway,  but  like 
Xerxes  of  old  they  had  burnt  the  bridges  be 
hind  them,  and  a  return  would  be  not  only  hu 
miliating  but  almost  impossible.  Joseph  Fel 
lows  and  other  benevolent  neighbors  helped 
them,  and  in  course  of  time  their  industry 
brought  them  its  reward.  As  they  did  not 
reach  New  York  before  the  ninth  of  October, 


78  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

it  was  November  before  they  got  settled  in  Ken 
dall,  and  the  cold  weather  soon  set  in.  The 
country  thereabouts  was  but  sparsely  settled  in 
that  region  in  1825,  and  there  was  not  much  op 
portunity  for  getting  employment  or  shelter. 
Twenty-four  of  them,  including  their  children, 
combined  and  put  up  a  log  house  twelve  by 
twelve  feet,  with  a  garret,  giving  them  just  a 
square  foot  apiece  on  each  floor.  Crowded  to 
gether  in  this  little  hut  their  patience  must 
have  been  taxed  to  the  utmost,  and  only  the 
hope  of  a  brighter  future  could  sustain  them 
under  such  circumstances.  In  those  days 
threshing  machines  were  not  known,  and  these 
first  Norwegian  settlers  made  their  first  little 
earnings  by  threshing  out  grain  for  the  older 
American  settlers  with  a  flail.  For  this  kind  of 
work  they  got  every  eleventh  bushel.  The  next 
year,  1826,  they  cleared  on  an  average  two  acres 
on  each  of  their  farms.  On  this  patch  of  ground 
they  raised  wheat  which  gave  them  bread  for 
their  next  winter's  support. 

I  call  the  place  Kendall,  but  the  name  of  it 
in  1825  was  Murray.  The  northeast  township 
of  Orleans  county,  N.  Y.,  was  originally  called 
Murray,  but  in  1837  it  was  cut  in  two  and  the 
north  half  in  which  our  sloop  people  were  set 
tled  received  the  name  Kendall,  and  throughout 


THE  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA.  79 

this  volume  I  have  used  this  designation  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  original. 

We  get  a  glimpse  of  this  first  Norwegian  set 
tlement  in  America  in  this  century  from  a  let 
ter  written  in  1871  by  H.  Hervig,  one  of  the 
passengers  in  the  sloop  Restaurationen. 

H.  Hervig's  letter  is  published  in  "Fsedre- 
landet  og  Emigranten"  in  La  Crosse,  Wis.,  Feb 
ruary  9,  1871,  and  is  as  follows: 

"To  the  Editor  of  Fsedrelandet  og  Emi 
granten.  Mr.  Editor:  Having  read  in  your 
honored  paper  several  reports  from  various 
places  in  the  West,  but  never  having  seen  any 
thing  from  here,  I  think  it  may  be  interesting 
for  you  and  your  readers  to  learn  that  there 
also  are  Norwegians  here  in  the  township  of 
Kendall,  Orleans  county,  New  York,  near  by 
Lake  Ontario. 

"Although  this  settlement  is  small,  it  should 
not  be  forgotten,  for  it  is  the  first  settlement  in 
habited  ~by  Norwegians  here  in  America.  I  and 
fifty-two  other  Norwegians  went  in  the  year 
1825  with  a  little  sloop  out  from  Stavanger. 

"After  a  long  voyage  we  finally  arrived  safe 
in  New  York  and  went  thence  to  this  place  in 
the  forest.  We  were  all  poor,  and  none  of  us 
could  speak  English.  When  we  arrived  in  Ken 
dall  the  most  of  us  became  sick  and  discour- 


80  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

aged.  The  timber  was  heavy  and  it  took  a  long 
time  before  we  could  raise  enough  to  support 
us.  After  the  land  was  cleared  we  found  the 
soil  to  be  very  good,  and  a  crop  grows  here  as 
good  as  in  few  places  in  the  vicinity. 

"There  do  not  come  any  more  any  people 
from  Norway,  nor  is  there  any  land  to  be  had 
here  at  a  low  price,  land  costing  here  from  $50 
to  f  100  per  acre. 

"So  far  as  religion  is  concerned  we  have 
many  churches  and  many  ministers  and  various 
denominations,  and  some  go  to  church,  while 
others  stay  at  home.  We  have  no  controversy 
over  religion,  but  each  one  is  permitted  to  be 
lieve  and  think  what  seems  best  to  him.  It 
does  not  seem  to  be  that  way  among  the  Nor 
wegians  in  the  West,  if  I  may  judge  from  your 
papers,  where  there  is  constantly  controversy 
over  religious  matters,  while  there  ought  to  be 
friendship  and  love.  I  must  confess  that  when 
we  first  arrived  here  we  thought  everything 
was  wrong,  when  it  was  not  like  what  there 
was  in  Norway.  But  we  soon  found  that  there 
were  good  things  even  among  people  who  wor 
shiped  God  in  another  manner  than  we  did,  and 
we  found  that  the  difference  was  not  so  great 
after  all,  when  they  only  built  on  the  right  foun 
dation,  Jesus  Christ,  and  being  reminded  that 


THE   FfRST   SETTLEMENT   IN   AMERICA.  81 

the  constitution  of  the  land  permitted  every  one 
to  worship  God  in  the  manner  his  conscience 
dictated,  we  worshiped  God  in  the  manner  of 
our  fathers  and  let  others  have  peace  to  wor 
ship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con 
sciences. 

"Respectfully, 
"Your  brother  and   countryman, 

"H.  HARWICK." 

This  letter  is  dated  at  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  Janu 
ary  20,  1871.  The  writer  died  thirteen  years 
later  at  Holley  in  Orleans  county. 

We  get  a  very  encouraging  view  of  condi 
tions  and  prospects  in  the  New  World  from  a 
letter  written  to  Norway  by  Gjert  Gregoriuson 
Hovland  in  1835,  after  he  had  lived  in  the  Ken 
dall  settlement  for  four  years.  Gjert  Gregoriu 
son  Hovland  left  Norway  June  24,  1831,  and 
went  by  way  of  Gothenborg  to  New  York, 
where  he  arrived  September  8,  having  been  de 
tained  in  Gothenborg  several  weeks.  He 
bought  fifty  acres  of  timber  land  in  the  Kendall 
settlement  and  improved  it  for  four  years,  when 
he  sold  it  at  a  profit  of  f  500.  He  is  loud  in  his 
praises  of  American  laws,  equality  and  liberty, 
as  compared  with  the  extortions  of  the  official 
aristocracy  in  Norway.  He  advised  all  who 
6 


82  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

were  able  to  emigrate  to  America,  arguing  that 
the  creator  had  not  prohibited  man  from  locat 
ing  in  what  part  of  the  world  he  pleased.  This 
and  other  letters  by  Gjert  G.  Hovland  to  Nor 
way  were  transcribed  in  hundreds  of  copies  and 
passed  from  house  to  house,  and  from  parish  to 
parish,  and  many  were  in  this  way  induced  to 
think  of  America  and  emigration.  Gjert  G. 
Hovland  removed  the  same  year,  that  is,  1835, 
to  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  where  he  died  at  a 
very  advanced  age  in  1870.  On  account  of  his 
early  arrival  and  particularly  on  account  of  his 
letters  about  America  to  Norway,  he  is  to  be 
counted  among  the  chief  promoters  of  Norwe 
gian  emigration  to  this  country. 

In  the  "Pioneer  History  of  Orleans  County, 
New  York,"  written  by  Arad  Thomas  and  pub 
lished  in  1871,  I  find  the  following  interesting 
notice  of  this  first  Norwegian  settlement  in 
America: 

"About  the  year  1825  a  company  of  Norwe 
gians,  about  fifty-two  ID  number,  settled  on  the 
lake  shore  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town 
(Kendall).  They  came  from  Norway  together 
and  took  up  land  in  a  body.  They  were  an 
industrious,  prudent,  and  worthy  people,  held 
in  good  repute  by  people  in  that  vicinity. 
After  a  few  years  they  began  to  move  away 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  IN   AMERICA.  88 

to  join  their  countrymen,  who  had  settled  in 
Illinois,  and  but  a  few  of  that  colony  are  still 
in  Kendall.  They  thought  it  very  important 
that  every  family  should  have  land  and  a  home 
of  their  own.  A  neighbor  once  asked  a  little 
Norwegian  boy,  whose  father  happened  to  5e 
too  poor  to  own  land,  where  his  father  lived, 
and  was  answered:  <O,  we  don't  live  nowhere; 
we  hain't  got  no  land.' " 

This  is  touchingly  prophetic  of  the  fact  that 
so  large  a  percentage  of  the  Norwegian  immi 
grants  have  settled  on  farms  and  become 
owners  of  land. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Thomas  errs  when 
he  puts  the  number  at  fifty -two.  He  must  have 
heard  of  the  sloop  with  its  fifty-two  passengers 
leaving  Norway.  We  know  that  the  captain 
and  the  mate  did  not  go  to  Kendall;  but  of 
course  Kleng  Peerson  went  there,  so  that  there 
probably  were  about  fifty  persons  in  the  Ken 
dall  settlement  in  the  fall  of  1825.  Lars  Larson 
and  his  family  probably  remained  there  until 
the  spring  of  1826. 

I  have  made  all  the  investigation  possible 
in  regard  to  this  first  Norwegian  settlement 
in  America  since  the  days  of  Leif  Erikson  in 
Vinland,  and  I  find  that  a  considerable  number 
of  the  descendants  of  the  original  settlers  are 


84  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

still  living  there.  They  are  thoroughly  Amer 
icanized,  but  there  are  still  among  them  later 
comers  from  Norway,  who  are  able  to  speak 
the  Norwegian  tongue.  Many  of  them  are  rel 
atives  of  Lars  Larson,  the  leader  of  the  sloop 
party. 

In  January,  1895,  I  received  a  letter  from 
Canute  Orsland,  whose  father  originally  set 
tled  in  Indiana,  and  he  gives  the  following  list 
of  Norwegians  now  residing  in  Kendall  with 
the  year  (approximately)  when  they  immi 
grated. 

Canute  Orsland,  a  son  of  Ole  Aasland,  who 
came  from  Norway  in  1838. 

Harry  B.  Orsland,  a  son  of  Ole  Aasland. 

John  Johnson,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1857. 

Rasmus  Danielson,  who  came  from  Norway 
in  1858. 

Chas.  Lind,  who  came  from  Norway  in  1871. 

M.  Anderson,  who  came  from  Norway  in  1882. 

Ellen  Lind,  who  came  from  Norway  in  1883. 

Claudine  Lind,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1883. 

Andrew  Halvorson,  born  in  Kendall,  his  par 
ents  having  come  from  Norway  in  1840. 

Anna  Anderson,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1887. 


THE   FIRST   SETTLEMENT   IN   AMERICA.  85 

Martin  Larson,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1891. 

Borre  Nses,  who  came  from  Norway  in  1854. 

Christopher  Anderson,  who  came  from  Nor 
way  in  1852. 

Caroline  Shulstead,  who  came  from  Norway 
in  1853. 

Eliza  Parker,  who  came  from  Norway  in  1870. 

Lars  Anderson,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1891. 

Andrew  J.  Stangeland,  born  in  the  settle 
ment,  but  his  father  came  in  the  sloop. 

Mr.  Orsland  writes  me  that  these  people  are 
largely  related  to  each  other  by  blood  or  mar 
riage. 

Martha  Jane  Larson  (now  Mrs.  Patterson) 
taught  public  school  in  this  settlement  in  1850, 
and  at  that  time  it  contained  about  a  dozen 
Norwegian  families,  but  they  seemed  entirely 
cut  off  from  any  report  either  with  Norway 
or  with  their  countrymen  in  America. 

Before  leaving  Kendall,  I  will  here  present  to 
my  readers  the  last  communication  that  I  have 
thus  far  received  from  this  interesting  old  set 
tlement.  Miss  Anna  Danielson  gives  a  most 
vivid  picture  of  the  Kendall  colony  of  today. 
Here  it  is: 


86  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

"Kendall,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  28,  1895. 
"Prof.  Easmus  B.  Anderson — 

"Dear  Sir: — In  replying  to  your  letter  written 
to  my  father,  asking  for  information  of  this  first 
Norwegian  settlement  in  America,  I  will  do  the 
best  I  can.     Mr.  Henry  Harwick  (Henrik  Her- 
vig),  Mr.  Nels  Nelson,  Mr.  Andrew  Stangeland 
and  Mr.  Ole  Johnson  were  among  the  first  set 
tlers  here  as  they  all  came  in  the  sloop  in  1825. 
The  first  three  came  directly  to  Kendall,  and 
Kleng  Peerson  was  their  leader.     He  had  been 
to  America  before  and  had  gone  back  to  Nor 
way  to  proclaim  the  news  about  this  wonderful 
free  land.    The  sloop  party  was  organized  and 
as  you  know,  many  came  at  that  time  to  Amer 
ica.     Only  a  few  remained  in  Kendall.     The 
country  was  then  new,  and  rich  only  in  beau 
tiful  forest  trees.     What  is  now  fine  farming 
land  was  then  only  a  vast  wilderness.     Those 
Norwegians  who  came  to  Kendall  built  a  log 
house,  and  all  lived  together  for  a  short  time. 
As  soon  as  they  were  able,  they  began  clearing 
up  the  land  and  making  homes  for  themselves. 
Mr.  Nels  Nelson  (Hersdal)  was  not  content  here, 
and  so  he  moved  west  after  a  few  years.     He 
settled  in  Illinois,  where  he  died  a  few  years 


THE  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA.  87 

ago,  a  rich  man.    Mr.  Harwick  lived  on  his 
farm  for  many  years,  one  mile  east  and  one  mile 
north  of  the  village  of  Kendall.    There  his  five 
children  were  born  and  there  four  of  them  and 
also  his  wife  died.     In  1876,  he  and  his  daugh 
ter  Christiana  moved  to  the  village  of  Holley, 
where  they  died  a  few  years  ago.    Mr.  Harwick 
lived  to  bury  all  his  family.     He  had  braved 
many  of  life's  storms,  had  climbed  the  ladder 
of  fortune,  and  died  a  well-to-do  man.    Mr.  An 
drew  Stangeland  has  been  dead  many  years. 
He,  like  many  others,  wandered  westward  and 
died  in  Indiana.     One  of  his  sons,  Andrew  J., 
still  lives  in  Kendall  on  what  is  still  called 
the  Norwegian  road.    It  was  on  that  road  the 
Norwegians  first  settled.      Andrew  J.  Stange 
land  has  a  family  of  six  girls  and  two  boys. 
Mr.   Ole   Johnson    came   over   in   the    sloop, 
but  did  not  come  directly  to  Kendall.     He  re 
mained  in  Kochester  a  few  years.     He  crossed 
the  water  again  in  1826,  and  when  he  returned 
in  1827,  he  brought  a  wife  with  him.     She  did 
not  live  long.     He  was  married  three  times. 
With  his  last  wife  he  came  to  Kendall  and 
settled  on  a  farm  on  the  shore  of  the  lake. 
Two  of  his  five  daughters  are  living,  viz.,  Inger, 
who  never  married  and  who  resides  in  Eoches- 
ter,  where  her  father  died,  and  Phoebe,  now  liv- 


88  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION 

ing  in  Birch  Run,  Michigan,  and  married  to 
Marshall  Colon.  After  a  time,  Mr.  Johnson  got 
tired  of  the  country  and  moved  back  to  Koch- 
ester,  where  he  could  attend  his  church,  he  be 
ing  a  Quaker. 

"Mr.  Olaus  Shulstead  was  also  one  of  the  old 
settlers  of  Kendall.  He  first  spent  some  years 
in  Rochester.  His  farm  was  on  the  shore  of 
the  lake.  Mr.  Shulstead  served  in  the  late  war 
and  he  died  last  fall  (1894),  and  his  widow 
Caroline  still  lives  on  the  farm.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Shulstead  were  real  Nowegians  and  always 
spoke  to  each  other  in  their  own  language. 
Ole  Orsland  (Aasland)  came  to  this  country  in 
1838.  He  first  came  to  Kendall  and  helped 
clear  the  trees  away.  He,  too,  settled  on  the 
Norwegian  road.  He  has  been  dead  about  thirty 
years,  but  he  has  two  sons  still  living  here, 
Harry  and  Canute.  Harry  was  about  10  years 
old  when  his  parents  came  to  this  country. 
He  served  in  the  late  war  and  now  lives  on  a 
farm  in  Kendall.  Canute  Orsland  lives  on  his 
father's  old  homestead. 

"Mr.  John  Johnson  (my  grandfather)  and  his 
two  daughters  Inger  and  Elisabeth  (my  mother) 
and  son  John  came  to  America  in  1857.  They 
were  nine  weeks  crossing  the  water.  They 
came  to  Kendall  and  Mr.  Johnson,  Sr.,  did  not 


THE   FIRST   SETTLEMENT    IN   AMERICA.  89 

live  many  years.  His  birthplace  was  two  Nor 
wegian  miles  northeast  of  Stavanger  in  Nor 
way.  Mr.  John  Johnson,  Jr.,  was  married  when 
he  came  here  and  then  had  three  children. 
Three  of  his  six  children  were  born  here.  Only 
two  are  now  living:  Mrs.  Inger  Orsland  (wife 
of  Canute  Orsland)  and  Canute  Johnson,  who 
lives  in  Mikado,  Michigan. 

"My  father,  Kasmus  Danielson,  came  to 
America  in  1858.  His  home  in  Norway  was 
six  Norwegian  miles  northeast  of  Stavanger. 
He  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Johnson  in  1858. 
My  parents  lived  in  Kendall  until  1866.  Then 
they  went  west  to  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota.  They  did  not  remain  in  the  west, 
but  returned  satisfied  that  the  Empire  state 
was  the  best  after  all,  and  they  have  lived  here 
contentedly  ever  since.  Their  home  is  one 
mile  north  of  Kendall  village.  They  have  two 
children,  Daniel  and  Anna  (my  name). 

"There  are  a  few  young  men  who  have  come 
here  the  last  few  years,  they  work  for  the  differ 
ent  farmers.  Very  few  of  those  who  come  now 
stay  very  long.  They  go  to  the  west.  The  few 
families  remaining  here  have  made  up  their 
minds  to  be  Americans.  They  do  not  wish  to 
forget  their  old  homes  across  the  sea,  but  they 
try  to  do  as  the  Americans  do,  and  the  most  of 


90  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

them  now  attend  the  Methodist  church  at  Ken 
dall.  At  present  there  are  only  two  of  the 
descendants  of  those  who  came  in  the  sloop, 
now  living  in  Kendall.  They  are  Mr.  Andrew  J. 
Stangeland  and  my  mother,  and  of  course  their 
children. 

"Now  Mr.  Anderson,  I  think  I  have  given  you 
all  the  information  I  can  think  of.  If  there  is 
anything  else  you  would  like  to  know,  you  may 
write  and  I  will  be  pleased  to  answer. 

"I  hope  that  what  I  have  written  may  be  of 
some  benefit  to  you. 

"Sincerely  yours, 

"ANNA  DANIELSON." 

In  this  manner,  then,  began  the  great  Scan 
dinavian  exodus  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
which  has  brought  1,250,000  immigrants,  and 
thus  was  founded  the  first  settlement,  which 
has  been  followed  by  so  many  large  and  thrifty 
ones  throughout  the  northwest. 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  91 


V. 

The  Sloop  Party. 

As  this  sloop  party  will  always  be  of  the 
greatest    interest    to    all    Scandinavians    and 
their  descendants  in  this  country,  I  have  taken 
all  possible  pains  to  ascertain  definitely  who  the 
fifty-three  persons  were  who  came  in  it.     By 
the  aid   of  the   survivors   and  various   others 
who  knew  Ihem,  I  believe  I  am  able  to  present 
a  well-nigh  perfect  list  of  the  adult  members, 
with  the  number  of  children  in  each  family. 
As  there  may  possibly  be  some  confusion,  par 
ticularly  of  adults  and  children,  I  hold  the  list 
subject  to  revision  and  correction  in  future  edi 
tions  of  this  work,  and  I  shall  be  very  grate 
ful  for  any  corrections  that  anybody  will  have 
the  kindness  to  send  me,  but  I  do  not  think  the 
list  as  here  given  will  be  found  to  contain  many 
errors.     Here  it  is : 

1-3.     Lars  Larson  i  Jeilane,  wife  and  daugh 
ter,  now  Mrs.  Atwater. 

4-9.    Cornelius  Nelson   Hersdal,  wife  and 
four  children. 


92  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

10--13.  Johannes  Stene,  wife  and  two  chil 
dren. 

14-18.  Oyen  Thompson  (Thorson),  wife  and 
three  children. 

19-25.  Daniel  Stenson  Kossadal,  wife  and 
five  children. 

26-30.  Thomas  Madland,  wife  and  three 
children.  The  above  named  six  families  were 
the  owners  of  the  sloop,  of  which  Lars  Larson 
owned  the  largest  share. 

31-35.  Simon  Lima,  wife  and  three  children. 
36-37.  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal  and  wife  Bertha. 

38.  Jacob  Anderson  (Slogvig). 

39.  Knud  Anderson  (Slogvig). 

40.  Sara  Larson,  deaf  and  dumb  sister  of 
Lars  Larson. 

41-2.     Henrik    Christopherson    Hervig    and 
wife. 

43.  Ole  Johnson. 

44.  Gudmund  Ilaugaas. 

45.  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland. 

46.  George  Johnson. 

47.  Andrew  (Endre)  Dahl,  the  cook. 

48.  Halvor  Iverson. 

49.  Nels    Thompson,     a    brother    of    Oyen 
Thompson. 

50.  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt 

51.  Andrew  Stangeland. 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY  98 

62.    Lars  Olson,  the  captain. 

53.     Mr.  Erikson,  the  mate. 

I  have  myself  seen  and  talked  with  eight 
of  the  sloop  passengers,  viz.:  Thorstein  Olson 
Bjaadland,  Mrs.  Lars  Larson  and  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Atwater,  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal  and  his 
wife,  Mrs.  Hulda  Olson,  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
Stenson  Rosdal  (Rossadal),  Mrs  Martha  Fel 
lows  and  Mrs.  Inger  Mitchell,  the  last  two, 
daughters  of  Cornelius  Nelson  Hersdal;  and  I 
have  had  considerable  correspondence  with  a 
ninth  and  tenth,  Mrs.  Sara  T.  Richey,  a  daugh 
ter  of  Oyen  Thompson,  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Ander 
son  (Slogvig),  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Mad- 
land. 

Of  Lars  Larson  and  his  family  I  have  already 
given  a  sufficiently  full  account. 

Cornelius  Nelson  Hersdal,  born  in  the  year 
1789,  and  his  wife  Caroline  (Kari),  born  Peerson, 
a  sister  of  Kleng  Peerson,  both  from  Tysver 
Parish,  Skjold  District,  Stavanger  Arnt 
(county),  settled  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
died  in  December,  1833.  He  was  an  older 
brother  of  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal,  of  whom  more 
later  on.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  last  war 
in  Norway.  Cornelius  and  his  wife  had  in  all 
seven  children:  Ann,  Nels,  Inger  and  Martha, 
born  in  Norway,  and  passengers  on  the  sloop; 


9:1  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

and  Sarah,  Peter  C.  and  Amelia,  born  in  Ken 
dall.  The  widow,  Kari,  came  with  her  family 
to  Mission,  La  Salle  county,  111.,  in  May,  1836, 
and  for  some  months  in  1837  my  parents  lived 
at  her  house.  Kari  Nelson  died  at  Mission, 
July  24,  1848.  The  oldest  daughter,  Ann,  was 
born  in  Norway  in  1814,  and  died  in  Illinois  in 
1858.  The  oldest  son,  Nels,  was  born  in  Nor 
way,  June  29,  1816.  He  became  a  farmer  and 
stock  raiser  in  La  Salle  county,  111.  He  mar 
ried  Catharine,  a  daughter  of  Knud  Iverson, 
and  had  twelve  children,  of  which  seven  reached 
maturity.  He  died  in  Sheridan,  111.,  August  29, 
1893,  and  was  the  last  male  survivor  of  the  fa 
mous  sloop  party.  His  widow  and  four  chil 
dren  are  still  living. 

Nelson's  daughter,  Inger,  was  born  in  Tysver, 
December  11,  1819,  and  in  1836  she  married 
John  S.  Mitchell,  of  Ottawa,  111.  She  is  now  a 
widow  and  still  resides  in  Ottawa. 

Martha,  her  sister,  was  born  in  Tysver,  Sep 
tember  27,  1823.  She  married  Beach  Fellows, 
who  had  settled  in  Mission,  May  1,  1835.  In 
1855  he  was  elected  county  treasurer  and  moved 
to  Ottawa  and  lived  there  until  his  death.  The 
widow  is  still  a  resident  of  that  city. 

Sarah  was  born  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  February 
16,  1827.  On  July  2,  1849,  she  married  Canute 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  95 

Peterson  Marsett,  who  came  from  Norway  in 
1837,  and  who  afterwards  became  a  Mormon 
bishop  at  Ephraim,  Utah.  She  and  her  hus 
band  are  still  living.  They  have  seven  children 
and  thirty-two  grandchildren.  Her  oldest  son, 
Peter  Cornelius,  born  at  Salt  Lake  City,  June 
2,  1850,  was  the  first  child  born  of  Norwegian 
parents  in  Utah. 

Sarah  has,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  make 
out,  the  honor  of  having  been  the  first  one  of 
the  Norwegian  immigrants  and  their  descend 
ants  to  teach  public  schools  in  America.  In  a 
letter  to  me  dated  at  Ephraim,  March  9,  1895, 
she  informs  me  that  she  taught  district  school 
in  the  Fox  River  settlement  in  1845  and  1846, 
and  I  have  not  found  any  one  else  who  has  as 
old  a  claim  as  hers  to  that  honor. 

Peter  C.  Nelson,  the  youngest  son,  was  born 
in  Kendall,  N.  Y;,  January  20,  1833.  He  is  a 
farmer  in  Larned,  Kansas,  and  has  nine  chil 
dren  and  twenty-three  grandchildren  living.  I 
am  indebted  to  him  for  many  valuable  facts  in 
regard  to  the  family  history. 

The  youngest  daughter,  Amelia,  was  born  in 
Kendall  in  1833,  the  same  year  that  her  father 
died,  and  she  was  only  twenty-one  years  old 
when  she  died  in  Mission  in  1854. 

A  daughter  of  P.  C.  Nelson,  of  Larned,  Kan- 


96  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

sas,  is  the  wife  of  Henry  W.  Johnson,  who  is 
at  present  judge  of  the  county  court  of  La  Salle 
county,  111.,  and  resides  at  Ottawa. 

J.  A.  Quam,  a  prosperous  merchant  in  Sheri 
dan,  111.,  is  married  to  another  daughter  of 
Peter  C.  Nelson.  Both  to  Mrs.  Bishop  Peter 
son,  and  to  Judge  H.  W.  Johnson  and  to  Mr. 
J.  A.  Quam  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  assistance 
in  gathering  facts  about  the  sloop  party. 

Of  Johannes  Stene,  wife  and  two  children,  I 
have  obtained  no  trace  beyond  the  fact  that 
they  went  to  Kendall. 

Oyen  Thompson  (Thorson)  was  born  on  a 
farm  named  Brastad,  about  twenty  miles  south 
of  Stavanger,  in  Norway,  in  the  year  1795,  and 
died  in  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  August  26,  1826.  The 
widow  of  this  slooper  married  her  husband's 
brother,  Nels  Thompson  (who  also  came  in  the 
sloop)  in  1827,  and  in  1828  they  moved  to  Ken 
dall.  Mrs.  Thompson's  name  was  Bertha  Caro 
line,  and  she  was  born  about  ten  miles  south 
of  Stavanger,  in  1790.  In  1834  Nels  Thompson 
and  his  wife  removed  to  La  Salle  county,  111., 
and  there  Bertha  Caroline  died  in  the  town  of 
Norway,  July  11,  1844. 

Oyen  Thompson  had  three  daughters  with 
him  in  the  sloop.  One  by  name  Caroline  was 
born  in  March,  1825,  and  died  in  Eochester, 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  97 

N.  Y.,  July  26,  1826.  Another  daughter,  Anna 
Maria,  was  born  in  Norway,  August  30,  1819. 
She  was  the  first  wife  of  Wm.  W.  Eichey,  and 
died  in  La  Salle  county,  June  9,  1842,  leaving 
a  son.  The  third  daughter  to  be  mentioned  is 
the  oldest.  Her  name  is  Sara,  and  she  was 
born  March  6, 1818.  She  came  with  her  mother, 
stepfather  and  one  sister  and  one  half-brother 
and  two  half-sisters  to  La  Salle  county,  where 
her  parents  settled  as  farmers.  There  she  be 
came  the  wife  of  George  Olmstead,  March  20, 
1837.  Mr.  Olmstead  died  July  31,  1849,  from 
cholera,  and  Sara  remained  in  Ottawa  until 
1855,  when  she  married  her  sister's  widower, 
William  W.  Eichey,  and  moved  to  Marseilles, 
111.,  where  she  resided  eighteen  years,  and  then 
removed  to  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Brookfield, 
south  of  Marseilles,  and  after  living  there  nine 
years,  she  settled  in  Guthrie  Center,  Iowa, 
where  she  still  resides.  About  nine  years  ago 
she  secured  a  divorce  from  Mr.  Eichey,  and  is 
now  living  alone,  a  hale  and  hearty  woman, 
whom  to  know  is  to  love. 

Nels  Thompson    and    Bertha    Caroline    had 

three  children:  a  daughter,  Serena,  born  March 

18,  1828,  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.;  died  in  Norway,  111., 

July  6,  1850;  a  son,  Abraham,  born  in  Kendall, 

7 


98  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

N.  Y.,  December  23,  1830;  died  in  Marseilles, 
111.,  February  16,  1866;  and  a  daughter,  Caro 
line,  born  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  July  15,  1833,  and 
died  at  Marseilles,  111.,  August  30,  1858.  The 
father,  Nels  Thompson,  died  in  La  Salle  county 
in  July,  1863. 

Mrs.  Sara  T.  Eichey  is  the  mother  of  eight 
children,  four  girls  and  four  boys,  five  by  her 
first  husband  and  three  by  her  second.  Only 
three  are  living  and  these  are:  Benson  C.  Olm- 
stead  and  Chas.  B.  Olmstead,  both  farmers  in 
Guthrie  county,  Iowa;  Cora  A.  Kichey,  now  Mrs. 
Morris,  residing  in  Nebraska,  and  Will  F. 
Kichey,  a  farmer  in  Guthrie  county,  Iowa.  The 
portrait  of  Sara  T.  Kichey  is  from  a  photograph 
taken  when  she  was  76  years  old. 

Daniel  Kosdal  and  family  came  from  Tysver 
and  settled  in  Kendall.  They  left  Kendall  in 
1835  and  moved  to  La  Salle  county,  111.  Daniel 
died  there  in  1854,  and  his  wife  Bertha  died  the 
same  year,  March  10,  1854.  The  following  five 
children  were  born  in  Norway  and  came  in  the 
sloop:  Ellen,  born  September  26,  1807;  Ove, 
born  December  4,  1809;  Lars,  born  February  20, 
1812;  John,  born  June  2,  1821;  Hulda,  born 
February  20,  1825;  one  child,  Caroline,  was 
born  to  them  in  Kendall,  April  1,  1829. 
Lars  Kosdal  went  into  the  first  grave  made 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  91) 

by  Norwegians  in  La  Salle  county,  111.  He  died 
in  1837.  Ellen  married  Cornelius  Cothrien. 
Ove  died  in  Iowa  in  1890,  but  was  buried  in  La 
Salle  county,  111.  John  died  in  La  Salle  county, 
111.,  in  May,  1893.  Ellen  and  Caroline  are  also 
dead,  but  Hulda  is  still  living  in  Sheridan,  111. 
She  married  Rasmus  Olson,  who  died  at  Sheri 
dan  in  1893.  The  portrait  given  of  Hulda  Olson 
is  from  a  photograph  taken  nine  years  ago. 

The  youngest  daughter,  Caroline,  married 
Jens  Jacobs  in  1847.  They  farmed  it  for  a 
while  in  La  Salle  county,  and  in  1865  Jens 
bought  240  acres  of  land  in  Livingston  county, 
111.  There  Jens  Jacobs  died  October  28,  1865, 
and  his  widow,  Caroline,  June  22,  1894.  They 
left  six  children,  five  boys  and  one  girl,  all  of 
whom  are  living.  These  six  children  are: 
Mary,  born  in  1848,  married  to  F.  M.  Brown,  and 
living  in  Jerauld  county,  S.  D.:  Jacob,  born 
1850,  married  to  Ellen  Brown,  a  sister  of  F.  M. 
Brown,  and  living  in  Livingston  county,  111.; 
Daniel,  born  1852,  not  married,  and  living  at 
Emington,  111.;  James  B.,  born  in  1856,  married 
to  Dollie  Lewis,  and  is  a  real  estate  agent  in 
Emington,  111.;  John,  born  in  1858,  married  to 
Ida  Erikson  and  residing  in  Humboldt  county, 
Iowa;  and  finally  Joseph,  born  in  1862,  married 
to  Mary  Erikson,  and  living  in  La  Salle  county, 


100  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

111.  The  Rosdals  were  zealous  Quakers  and  re 
mained  faithful  to  the  creed  of  their  adoption 
to  the  end. 

Thomas  Madland  was  born  in  Stavanger  in 
1778,  and  died  in  June,  1826,  the  year  after  he 
settled  in  Kendall.  His  wife  was  born  in  1768, 
and  died  in  Kendall  in  1829.  Thomas  Madland 
was  a  blacksmith  in  Norway  and  when  he  emi 
grated  he  left  three  of  his  children  in  Norway, 
Jens,  Martha  and  Christina.  To  Jens,  who  was 
then  twenty-one  years  old,  he  left  his  black 
smith  shop  in  full  running  order,  and  his  home. 
Jens  with  his  wife  and  a  large  family  of  chil 
dren  finally  emigrated  to  America  in  1859,  and 
died  about  ten  years  ago  in  Sauk  Center,  Minn. 
A  son  of  his,  by  name  J.  O.  D.  Madland,  is  now 
a  merchant  in  Ashby,  Grant  county,  Minnesota. 
Thomas  Madland  and  wife  brought  three 
daughters  with  them  in  the  sloop,  Eachel,  Julia 
and  Serena.  Eachel  married  the  captain  of 
the  sloop,  Lars  Olson,  and  died  in  New  York 
city.  She  was  born  in  1807,  but  I  do  not  know 
the  year  she  died. 

Julia  married  Gudmund  Haugaas  in  Kendall 
in  1827,  and  died  in  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement 
in  the  spring  of  1846.  She  was  born  1810. 

Serena  was  born  January  1, 1814.  On  March 
1,  1831,  she  married  Jacob  Anderson  (Slogvig)> 


THE  SL.OOP   PART*. 

at  Kendall,  in  the  woods  near  Lake  Ontario,  in 
the  same  place  where  her  sister  Julia  had  been 
married.  She  moved  first  to  the  Fox  River  set 
tlement  and  afterwards  to  California,  where 
she  is  still  living,  being  now  over  eighty-one 

JrCt'  ' 

years  old.  Her  home  is  in  San  Diego  with  her 
son,  Andrew  J.  Anderson.  My  last  letter  from 
this  dear  old  lady  was  written  at  Fruito,  Glenn 
county,  California,  March  11,  1895,  and  it  shows 
her  to  be  in  the  full  vigor  of  her  mental  and 
physical  powers.  She  sent  me  her  photograph 
taken  about  ten  years  ago.  Her  husband,  who 
was  born  June  8,  1807,  died  in  California,  May 
5,  1864. 

In  regard  to  Simon  Lima,  wife  and  three  chil 
dren,  Mrs.  Sara  T.  Richey  writes  to  me  that  they 
proba.bly  lived  and  died  in  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Besides  the  letter  from  Mrs.  Richey  I  have  no 
knowledge  of  them  beyond  their  being  born 
about  twenty  Norwegian  miles  south  of  Sta- 
vanger  and  locating  in  Kendall  in  1825. 

Nels  Nelson  Hersdal  was  a  younger  brother  of 
Cornelius  Nelson,  and  his  wife  Bertha  was  a 
sister  of  Henrik  Christopherson  Hervig  (Har- 
wick).  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal  was  born  in  Tys- 
ver,  July  4, 1800,  and  his  parents  were  Nel3  Cor- 
neliuson  Hersdal  and  Susanne,  a  daughter  of 
Erik  Hervig.  His  wife  Bertha  was  born  May  2, 


102  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

1804,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Christopher 
Christopherson  Hervig  and  Cecelia,  a  daughter 
of  Henrik  Dueland.  They  were  married  in  the 
spring  of  1825,  and  came  from  Tysver  Parish, 
north  of  Stavanger.  Nels  Nelson  settled  in 
Kendall  in  1825,  and  in  1835  he  went  out  to  La 
Salle  county,  111.,  where  he  got  640  acres  of 
land  from  Joseph  Fellows  in  exchange  for  100 
acres  that  he  owned  in  Kendall,  but  he  did  not 
take  his  family  out  to  Illinois  before  1846.  Of 
his  first  visit  to  Illinois  his  son,  Ira  Nelson,  of 
Ottawa,  has  told  me  that  he  footed  it  from  Ken 
dall  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  then  worked  his  way  to 
Chicago  on  a  steamboat,  getting  three  dollars 
per  day.  On  his  return  to  New  York  state  he 
worked  his  way  to  Detroit  and  then  footed  it 
to  Buffalo,  beating  the  stage.  In  Buffalo  he 
was  much  admired  and  entertained  for  having 
made  better  time  than  the  stage.  He  was 
known  by  the  name,  Big  Nels,  and  was  a  power 
ful  man.  Nels  Nelson  HersdaFs  wife  died  De 
cember  29,  1882,  and  he  lived  until  September 
21,  1886.  They  had  eleven  children,  of  which 
two,  Peter  and  Ira,  are  now  living  in  La  Salle 
county,  111. 

Jacob  Anderson  Slogvig  and  Knud  Anderson 
Slogvig  were  brothers.-  Jacob  moved  from 
Kendall  to  La  Salle  county  in  1834.  He  mar- 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  103 

ried,  as  stated,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Madland, 
and  as  near  as  I  can  make  out  he  went  to  Cali 
fornia  soon  after  1850.  He  accumulated  con 
siderable  wealth  and  died  in  California  in  1864. 
He  was  born  in  1807.  His  widow  and  at  least 
one  son  are  living  in  San  Diego,  Cal.  Knud 
Slogvig  came  from  Kendall  to  La  Salle  county, 
111.,  in  1834,  and  in  1835  he  went  back  to  Nor 
way  where  he  married  a  sister  of  Ole  Olson 
Hetletvedt,  and  was  successful  in  promoting 
emigration.  He  was  the  main  cause  of  the 
great  exodus  in  the  two  Kohler  brigs  from  Sta- 
vanger  in  1836,  in  one  of  which  ships  he  re 
turned  to  America.  In  1837  we  find  him  with 
Kleng  Peerson  on  a  journey  to  Shelby  countyr 
Mo.,  where  Kleng  and  others  went  to  found  a 
new  settlement,  but  Knud  Slogvig  returned  to 
La  Salle  county  at  once.  He  and  his  wife  after 
wards  removed  to  Lee  county,  111.,  where  they 
both  died. 

Sara  Larson,  deaf  and  dumb  sister  of  Lars 
Larson  (i  Jeilane),  lived  and  died  at  her 
brother's  house  in  Kochester,  N.  Y. 

Henrik  Christopherson  Hervig  (Harwick) 
never  came  west.  He  and  his  wife  were  born 
in  Tysver,  in  Norway,  and  both  settled  in  Ken 
dall.  They  both  came  in  the  sloop,  but  were 
not  married  until  after  they  arrived  in  Kendall. 


104  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

I  have  already  reproduced  a  newspaper  article 
by  Henrik  Hervig,  written  by  him  from  Ken 
dall  in  1871.  Miss  Anna  Danielson  writes  me 
under  date  of  February  28,  1895,  in  regard  to 
him,  that  he  died  at  Kolley,  Orleans  county,  in 
the  summer  of  1884.  His  wife  and  all  his  chil 
dren  were  dead  before  that.  Martha,  his  wife, 
died  in  August,  1868.  Mr.  Hervig  was  a  farmer 
when  he  lived  in  Kendall,  and  at  Holley  he  did 
nothing  as  he  had  saved  up  enough  for  his 
comfort.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  last 
days  were  as  happy  as  when  he  was  working 
hard  on  his  farm,  for  then  he  was  surrounded  by 
his  wife  and  children,  while  during  the  last 
days  of  his  life  he  had  to  depend  on  strangers. 
It  is  related  that  Mrs.  Martha  Hervig  walked 
from  Kendall  to  Eochester,  a  distance  of  thirty- 
two  miles,  in  one  day.  This  is  the  kind  of  stuff 
the  sloop  people  were  made  of! 

Ole  Johnson  went  back  to  Norway  in  1826, 
and  in  1827,  he  returned  with  a  wife  and  after 
spending  a  few  years  in  Eoehester  settled  in 
'Kendall,  but  in  his  old  age  he  moved  to  Eoch 
ester.  He  was  a  Quaker  and  wanted  to  live 
where  he  could  attend  the  church  of  the 
Friends.  He  died  in  Eochester  in  March,  1877. 
He  was  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  was 
named  Malinda,  and  both  the  second  and  third 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  105 

bore  the  name  Ingeborg.  By  his  first  wife  he 
had  three  children  all  of  whom  are  dead.  He 
had  no  children  by  his  second 'wife,  but  by  his 
third  wife  he  had  three  children,  two  of  whom, 
Phoebe  and  Inger,  are  living.  In  Kendall,  Die 
Johnson  lived  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario. 
In  a  terrible  storm  a  ship  was  washed  ashore, 
or  rather  into  shallow  water,  and  the  ves 
sel  had  to  remain  there  several  days  and  wait 
for  help.  The  sailors  went  up  to  Ole  Johnson's 
house,  and  there  the  mate  of  the  ship,  Marshall 
Colon,  became  acquainted  with  Phoebe  John 
son  and  afterwards  married  her.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Colon  now  reside  at  Birch  Run,  Michigan. 

Gudmund  Haugaas  settled  in  Kendall,  in 
1825.  He  was  married  in  Kendall,  New  York, 
to  Julia,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Madland.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  Norwegian  settlers  in  Il 
linois,  coming  to  La  Salle  county  in  1834.  Gud 
mund  and  Julia  had  ten  children.  Julia  died 
in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  December  24,  3 846, 
and  Gudmund  Haugaas  afterwards  married 
Miss  Caroline  Hervig,  a  sister  of  Henrik  Her- 
vig  and  of  Bertha  Nelson  Hersdal.  He  was 
a  well  educated  man.  In  his  early  life  he  was 
a  wheelwright,  but  he  was  fond  of  books  and 
a  great  reader.  In  Illinois  he  became  an  elder 
in  the  church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  (Mor- 


106  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

mons),  an  office,  which  the  members  of  that 
church  say  he  held  with  honor  both  to  himself 
and  to  the  cause  until  his  death.  He  also  prac 
ticed  medicine  among  the  first  Norwegian  set 
tlers  in  America,  and  it  is  said  with  good  suc 
cess.  I  have  myself  talked  with  people  who 
wrere  helped  by  Dr.  Haugaas  in  cases  of  severe 
illness.  We  may  safely  say  that  Gudmund 
Haugaas  was  one  of  the  first  preachers  and 
first  physicians  among  the  Norwegian  immi 
grants  in  this  century.  He  died  on  his  farm 
between  Ottawa  and  Norway,  of  cholera,  July 
28,  1849.  His  widow  Caroline  died  in  April, 
1852.  Thomas,  one  of  his  sons  by  his  first  wife,, 
is  now  the  preacher  of  a  church  of  the  Latter 
Day  Saints  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  and  a 
daughter  by  his  second  wife  is  Caroline  C.,  wife 
of  Dr.  K.  W.  Bower,  in  Sheridan,  Illinois.  A 
son  of  this  last  couple  is  Dr.  G.  S.  Bower,  a  . 
physician  in  Ransom,  Illinois.  A  son  of  Gud 
mund  Haugaas  is  Daniel  Haugaas,  now  living 
in  Henderson,  Iowa,  and  Mrs.  Isabel  Lewis  of 
Emington,  Illinois,  is  a  daughter  of  Gudmund 
Haugaas. 

Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland  was  born  in  Haa 
parish  about  28  Norwegian  miles  south  of  Sta- 
vauger.  He  did  not  know  his  birthday,  but  he 
frequently  told  me  that  he  was  thirty  years 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  107 

old  when  he  emigrated  in  the  sloop  in  1825; 
hence  he  must  have  been  born  about  the  year 
1795.  In  Norway  he  spent  five  years  in  the 
employ  of  the  government  as  a  mail-carrier. 
Thorstein  Olson  lived  a  few  years  in  Kendall 
and  then  went  to  Michigan  (to  what  part  I  do 
not  know)  and  there  served  an  apprenticeship  at 
the  shoemaker's  trade.  From  Michigan  he  re 
turned  to  Kendall,  and  in  1834  he  joined  those 
who  went  with  Kleng  Peerson,  to  La  Salle 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  bought  a  small  farm 
and  built  a  little  log  house  on  it,  and  for  some 
time  prosperity  seemed  to  favor  and  reward 
him  for  his  industry;  but  the  Indians,  he  said, 
set  fire  to  the  prairie  grass,  and  the  fire  spread 
over  his  farm  and  burned  his  log  house  with 
all  its  contents  to  the  ground.  He  then  built  an 
other  log  house  like  it  and  remained  on  his  Il 
linois  farm  until  1840,  when  in  company  with 
my  father  and  others  he  removed  to  Albion, 
Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  bought  a 
farm  of  80  acres,  but  he  was  not  thrifty  and  he 
died  a  poor  man  in  a  small  log  house  on  my 
father's  farm,  May  7, 1874.  In  1844,  he  married 
Guro  Olson,  from  Thelemarken,  in  Norway, 
and  at  this  writing  his  widow  and  six  children, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  are  living.  His 
oldest  son,  Ole  Thorsteinson,  served  as  a  brave 


108  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

soldier  through  the  war  in  the  15th  regiment, 
Wisconsin  vol.,  and  has  during  the  last  few 
years  been  postmaster  in  London,  Wisconsin. 

George  Johnson  came  from  Kendall  to  La 
Salle  county,  Illinois,  in  1835,  where  he  died 
from  cholera  in  the  same  week  as  Gudmund 
Haugaas,  in  July,  1849,  leaving  four  children. 
He  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Jahan  Nord- 
boe. 

Andrew  (Endre)  Dahl  settled  in  Kendall, 
N.  Y,  Came  thence  to  La  Salle  county,  Illinois, 
in  1834.  There  he  married  the  widow  of  Sven 
Aasen.  Endre  Dahl  is  remembered  as  the  cook 
on  board  the  sloop.  His  sons  went  to  Texas 
in  an  early  day  and  became  experts  in  captur 
ing  wild  horses.  In  the  fifties,  Andrew  Dal  1 
himself  went  to  Salt  Lake  City  in  Utah,  where 
he  died.  I  have  recently  learned  that  one  of  his 
sons  is  still  living  in  Utah,  and  his  grandson, 
A.  S.  Anderson,  born  in  Utah,  was  recently  a 
member  of  the  Utah  constitutional  convention. 

Of  Nels  Thompson,  I  have  already  given  some 
account.  He  was  a  brother  of  Oven  Thompson 
and  married  the  widow  of  the  latter  in  Eoches- 
ter,  in  1827.  He  removed  to  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  in  1834,  and  died  there  in  July,  1863. 

Andrew  Stangeland  bought  land  in  Kendall 
in  1825,  and  immediately  married  an  American 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  109 

girl,  by  name  Miss  Susan  Gary.  It  is  said  that 
he  married  her  before  he  had  learned  to  speak 
English.  He  afterwards  sold  his  land  to  Ole 
H.  Aasland  and  got  in  exchange  for  it  a  tract 
of  land  that  Ole  Aasland  owned  in  Noble  coun 
ty,  Ind.  I  am  informed  that  Andrew  Stange- 
land  died  in  Indiana,  but  his  son,  Andrew  J. 
Stangeland,  is  now  living  in  Kendall,  N.  Y. 

Lars  Olson,  the  captain  of  the  sloop,  married 
Eachel,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Madland,  and 
settled  in  New  York  probably  as  a  sailor.  I 
am  informed  that  both  he  and  his  wife  died  in 
New  York  many  years  ago. 

The  mate,  Mr.  Erikson,  some  say  went  back 
to  Bergen  in  Norway,  while  others  claim  that 
he,  too,  remained  in  New  York. 

I  have  saved  the  slooper,  Ole  Olson  Hetle- 
tvedt,  for  the  last  because  I  have  a  long  story  to 
tell  about  one  of  his  sons.  He  was  born  in  the 
northern  part  of  Stavanger  Amt  in  Norway, 
where  he  had  been  a  school  teacher.  He  went 
first  to  Kendall  and  thence  to  Niagara  Falls, 
where  he  found  employment  in  a  paper  mill, 
and  while  living  there  he  married  an  American 
lady  by  name  Miss  Chamberlain.  Mrs.  Inger 
Mitchell  has  informed  me  that  she  as  a  young 
girl  lived  about  a  year  with  Hetletvedt's  family 
at  Niagara  Falls.  After  coming  to  this  country 


110  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

he  dropped  the  name  Hetletvedt  and  signed 
himself  Ole  Olson.  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt  came 
west,  and  settled  first  in  La  Salle  county  and 
afterwards  near  Newark,  in  Kendall  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  died  about  the  year 
1849.  He  became  widely  known  in  the 
early  days  of  our  Norwegian  settlements 
as  a  bible  agent  and  as  a  most  efficient 
lay  preacher  of  the  Haugian  school.  Of  his 
gospel  meetings  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume.  Ole  Olson's 
first  wife  died  early  and  he  married  another 
American  woman,  a  widow,  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  secure  any  further  facts  in  regard  to  her. 
Two  of  Ole  Olson's  brothers  came  to  America 
in  1836.  One  was  Knud  Olson  Hetletvedt,  who 
was  born  on  the  farm  Hetletvedt  in  Stavanger 
Amt,  April  21,  1793.  He  settled  as  a  farmer 
in  Mission,  La  Salle  county,  and  lived  there  un 
til  he  died  in  the  cholera  epidemic  on  August 
12,  1849.  He  left  five  children  Ole,*  Soren, 

*Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  had  a 
letter  from  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  the  nephew 
of  the  slooper.  He  informs  me  that  he  was 
born  at  Hetletvedt,  Ombo,  Stavanger  Amt, 
April  23,  1824.  As  a  twelve  year  old  boy  he 
emigrated  to  America  with  his  parents  and  set 
tled  with  them  in  Mission,  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  and  lived  there  until  1865,  when  he 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  Ill 

John,  Sophia  and  Bertha.  Ole  and  his  two 
sisters  live  ii  Norway,  Benton  county,  Iowa, 
the  other  two  in  Illinois.  John  is  married  to 
a  daughter  of  Beach  Fellows.  The  other 

moved  to  Norway,  Benton  county,  Iowa  where 
he  now  resides.  His  brother  Soren  was  born 
December  30,  1835.  He  now  resides  in  Living 
ston  county  Illinois.  John  was  born  March 
12,  1839,  in  Mission  and  now  resides  in  Ford 
county,  Illinois.  His  sister  Sophia  was  born 
in  Norway,  July  18, 1821,  and  his  sister  Bertha, 
December  30, 1832.  There  was  an  older  brother 
John  who  was  born  April  8,  1830,  and  died  Sep 
tember  5,  1836,  at  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  and 
then  there  was  a  sister  Malinda,  who 
was  born  May  12,  1827,  and  died  on 
Lake  Michigan,  September  10,  1836.  Ole 
Olson's  wife,  Bertha  Olson,  was  born  Sep 
tember  9,  1830,  on  the  farm  Valem,  Aardal 
parish,  Stavanger  Amt.  They  were  married 
December  25,  1857.  Their  children  are  Sarah 
Ann,  born  September  14,  1852  (married);  Peter 
C.  Olson,  born  April  21,  1854  (married);  Sophia, 
born  September  9,  1856;  Edward,  born  May  14, 
1859  (deceased);  Charles  P.,  born  February  4, 
1864  (deceased). 

Ole  Olson  also  informs  me  that  his  mother's 
name  was  Siri  (Sigrid),  and  that  she  was  born 
January  13, 1793,  and  died  from  cholera  August 
3,  1849.  Mr.  Olson  also  mentions  Osmund  Tut- 
tie  from  Hjelmeland  in  Stavanger  Amt  as  com 
ing  to  America  in  1836.  This  Osmund  was 
born  in  1797,  and  died  in  1880.  The  slooper, 


NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

brother  was  Jacob  Olson  Hetletvedt.  He  went 
to  the  Sugar  Creek  settlement  in  Lee  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  died   August  24,   1857.     His 
widow  married  Sven  Kjylaa,  and  with  him  she 
moved  to  the  Pox  Kiver  settlement.  Her  second 
husband  died  there  recently,  but  she  is  said 
to  be  still  living  at  a  very  advanced  age. 
Ole  Olson  the  slooper  had  four  children,  three 
sons  and  one  daughter.     The  three  boys  were 
Porter  C.,  Soren  L.  and  James  Webster.     All 
three  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  36th  regiment,  Illinois 
volunteers.    Porter  C.  was  the  captain,  but  ad 
vanced  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  regiment,  and 
was   acting   brigadier   general   when   he   was 
killed  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Franklin,  Tenn. 
Soren  L.  was  sergeant,    and  had    his    head 
blown  off  by  a  shell  at  the  battle  of  Murfrees- 
boro,  while  James  Webster  came  home  again 
without  a  scar.     He  went  to  Minnesota  where 
his  sister  Bertha  was  living.     Porter  was  bur 
ied  at  Newark,  Illinois,  and  a  fine  monument 


was  erected  on  his  grave. 


Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  had  a  third  brother  by 
name  Lars.  Lars  Olson  Hetletvedt  started 
for  America  in  1830,  but  did  not  get  further 
than  Hamburg,  not  having  money  enough  to  get 
to  New  York.  Twenty  years  later,  in  1850,  he 
emigrated  and  located  in  the  Fox  Kiver  settle 
ments  where  he  died  about  a  year  ago. 


THE   SLOOP  PARTY.  113 

I  think  it  is  not  generally  known  that  Ole 
Olson  Hetletvedt's  son,  Porter  C.  Olson,  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  our  late  civil  war,  and  I 
shall  therefore  now  give  some  account  of  him. 

Everybody  knows  of  Col.  Hans  C.  Heg,  the 
gallant  colonel  of  the  15th  Wisconsin  regiment 
of  volunteers,  but  we  never  see  Colonel  Porter 
C.  Olson  mentioned  in  the  Scandinavian  press 
of  this  country.  He  was  born  in  Manchester, 
near  Niagara  Falls,  in  1831.  As  shown  above, 
his  father  was  a  Norwegian  by  birth  and  his 
mother  an  American  lady.  The  family  removed 
to  Newark,  Kendall  county,  Illinois,  when  Por 
ter  was  a  lad.  He  improved  the  usual  advan 
tages  to  be  derived  from  country  schools  until 
he  was  fitted  for  college,  and  he  subsequently 
attended  Beloit  college  in  Wisconsin,  from 
June,  1856,  to  June,  1858,  but  he  did  not  grad 
uate  there. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he  was 
teaching  the  public  school  at  Lisbon,  Illinois, 
but  just  as  Col.  Hans  C.  Heg  left  a  lucrative 
state  office  in  Wisconsin  to  serve  his  country  in 
the  war,  so  patriotism,  duty  and  ambi 
tion  called  Porter  C.  Olson  from  the  school-room 
to  the  camp.  Through  his  efforts  a  company 
was  recruited  at  Newark,  made  up  largely  of 
8 


114  NORWEGIAN  'IMMIGRATION. 

the  sons  of  Norwegians  from  that  locality  and 
from  the  town  of  Mission  in  La  Salle  county. 
Porter  C.  Olson  was  elected  its  captain,  and 
his  company,  with  full  ranks,  was  among  the 
first  at  camp  Hammond,  where  the  36th  regi 
ment  of  Illinois  volunteers  was  organized. 
This  camp  was  on  the  west  side  of  Fox  river, 
half  a  mile  above  the  village  of  Montgomery, 
and  two  miles  from  Aurora.  The  36th  regi 
ment,  known  as  the  Fox  river  regiment,  de 
parted  from  camp  Hammond  for  the  seat  of  war 
September  24,  1861,  and  Porter  C.  Olson  fol 
lowed  the  fortunes  of  the  regiment  in  its  tedi 
ous  marches  and  participated  in  all  its  fierce 
encounters  down  to  the  fatal  field  at  Franklin, 
Tennessee.  He  was  a  modest  and  unassuming 
man  and  a  thorough  personal  acquaintance 
was  necessary  to  fully  understand  and  appre 
ciate  the  many  excellencies  of  his  character. 
The  historian  of  the  regiment,  Major  L.  G.  Ben 
nett,  testifies  that  "next  after  the  lamented 
Miller  none  stood  higher  or  had  a  warmer  place 
in  the  affections  of  the  men  than  Lieut.  Col.  Por 
ter  C.  Olson."  I  find  in  the  records  of  this  regi 
ment  that  Mr.  Olson  commanded  the  regiment 
with  great  bravery  in  the  battle  of  Stone  Kiver 
in  December,  1862,  and  January,  1863.  When 
Gen.  Sill  was  killed  in  this  battle  on  December 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  115 

31,  1862,  Col.  Greusel  of  the  36th  Illinois,  took 
command  of  the  brigade,  and  as  Major  Miller 
of  the  36th  Illinois,  was  wounded,  the  command 
of  the  regiment  devolved  on  Porter  C.  Olson. 
Of  the  movements  of  the  regiment  during  those 
eventful  days,  Captain  Olson  made  a  full  offi 
cial  report,  and  as  this  is  the  only  document 
I  have  hitherto  been  able  to  find  from  the  pen 
of  this  gallant  soldier,  I  offer  no  apology  for 
reproducing  it  here  as  a  monument  to  his  mem 
ory.  It  gives  us  a  most  charming  glimpse  of 
him  as  a  soldier,  man  and  writer,  and  eminently 
deserves  to  be  preserved  among  the  records 
of  our  early  Norwegian  settlers.  Hitherto  his 
memory  has  been  neglected  by  his  country 
men  in  America,  but  it  shall  henceforth  live  for 
ever,  and  linked  with  that  of  the  lamented  Col. 
Hans  C.  Heg,  it  shall  be  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  as  long  as  descend 
ants  of  the  Norwegians  shall  be  found  among 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  I  give  Cap 
tain  Olson's  report  here  as  one  of  the  most  pre 
cious  historical  documents  that  I  have  found 
for  my  readers  of  this  volume: 

"Headquarters  36th  111.  Vols., 

"Jan.  9,  1863. 

"The  36th  Illinois  regiment,  Col.  N.  Greusel 
commanding,  was  called  into  line  at  four  o'clock 
on  Tuesday  morning,  December  30th,  1862,  and 


116  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

stood  under  arms  until  daylight,  to  the  left  of 
the  Wilkinson  pike,  our  right  resting  upon  it, 
five  miles  from  Murfreesboro.  At  nine  o'clock 
a.  m.  we  moved  forward  to  Murfreesboro.  Two 
companies  were  deployed  as  skirmishers  to  the 
right  of  the  road  and  were  soon  engaged  with 
the  enemy's  skirmishers.  When  two  miles 
from  Murfreesboro,  the  regiment  was  deployed 
in  a  corn-field  to  the  right  of  the  pike  and  two 
companies  were  sent  forward  as  skirmishers, 
as  ordered  by  Gen.  Sill.  The  regiment  lay  in 
line  in  this  field  until  2  o'clock  p.  m.  at  which 
time  the  whole  line  was  ordered  to  advance. 
The  skirmishers  kept  up  a  sharp  fire  —  the  en 
emy's  line  retreating  and  ours  advancing.  We 
drove  the  enemy  through  the  timber  and  across 
the  cotton  field,  a  low,  narrow  strip  stretching 
to  the  right  into  the  timber.  A  rebel  battery, 
directly  in  front  of  the  36th,  opened  a  heavy 
fire  upon  us.  Our  skirmishers  advanced  to  the 
foot  of  the  hill  near  the  cotton-field  and  here 
kept  up  a  well  directed  fire.  We  were  ordered 
to  support  Capt.  Bush's  batttery,  which  was 
brought  into  position  in  the  point  of  timber 
where  our  right  rested,  and  opened  fire  with 
terrible  effect  upon  the  enemy.  W7e  remained 
as  a  support  until  nearly  dark,  when  Capt.  Bush 
went  to  the  rear,  the  enemy's  battery,  or  rather 
its  disabled  fragments,  having  been  dragged 
from  the  field.  In  this  day's  engagement,  the 
regiment  lost  three  killed  and  fifteen  wounded ; 
total  eighteen.  We  occupied  the  hill  during  the 
night,  and  our  skirmishers  were  in  line  at  the 
edge  of  the  cotton-field. 

"On  the  morning  of  December  31st,  soon  after 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  117 

daylight,  the  enemy  advanced  in  strong  force 
from  the  timber  beyond  the  cotton-field  oppo 
site  our  right.  They  came  diagonally  across 
the  field  and  upon  reaching  the  foot  of  the  hill 
made  a  left  half  wheel,  coming  up  directly  in 
front  of  us.  When  the  enemy  had  advanced 
up  the  hill  sufficiently  to  be  in  sight,  Col.  (X) 
Greusel  ordered  the  regiment  to  fire,  which  was 
promptly  obeyed.  We  engaged  the  enemy  at 
short  range,  the  lines  being  not  over  ten  rods 
apart.  After  a  few  rounds,  the  regiment  sup 
porting  us  on  the  right  gave  way.  In  this  man 
ner  we  fought  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  when 
Col.  Greusel  ordered  the  regiment  to  charge. 
The  enemy  fled  in  great  confusion  across  the 
cotton-field  into  the  woods  opposite  our  left, 
leaving  many  of  their  dead  and  wounded  upon 
the  field.  We  poured  a  destructive  fire  upon 
them  as  they  retreated  until  they  were  beyond 
range. 

"The  36th  again  took  position  upon  the  hill 
and  the  support  for  our  right  came  forward. 
At  this  time  Gen.  Sill  was  killed  and  Col  Greu 
sel  took  command  of  the  brigade.  A  fresh  bri 
gade  of  the  enemy  advanced  from  the  direction 
that  the  first  had  come  and  in  splendid  order. 
We  opened  fire  on  them  with  terrific  effect. 
Again  the  regiment  on  our  right  gave  way  and 
we  w^ere  again  left  without  support.  In  this 
condition  we  fought  until  our  ammunition  was 
exhausted  and  the  enemy  had  entirely  flanked 
us  on  our  right.  At  this  juncture  Major  (Silas) 
Miller  ordered  the  regiment  to  fall  .back. 
While  retreating,  Major  Miller  was  wounded 
and  the  command  devolved  on  me.  We  moved 


118  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

back  of  the  corn-field  to  the  edge  of  the  timber 
a  hundred  rods  to  the  right  of  the  Wilkinson 
pike  and  two  miles  from  Murfreesboro,  at  eight 
o'clock  a.  m.  Here  I  met  Gen.  Sheridan  and  re 
ported  to  him  that  the  regiment  was  out  of  am 
munition  and  that  I  wrould  be  ready  for  action 
as  soon  as  I  could  obtain  it.  We  had  suffered 
severely  in  resisting  the  attack  of  superior  num 
bers.  I  had  now  only  one  hundred  and  forty 
men.  The  regiment  fought  with  great  obsti 
nacy  and  much  is  due  to  Col.  N.  Greusel  for  his 
bravery  in  conducting  the  regiment  before  be 
ing  called  away.  Adjutant  Biddulph  went  to 
find  the  ammunition,  but  did  not  succeed.  I 
then  informed  Quartermaster  Bouton,  that  I 
needed  cartridges,  but  he  failed  to  find  any  ex 
cept  size  fifty-eight,  the  calibre  of  most  of  the 
arms  being  sixty-nine.  I  was  ordered  by  Major 
General  McCook  to  fall  back  to  the  rear  of  Gen. 
Crittenden's  corps.  I  arrived  there  about  ten 
o'clock  a.  m.  I  here  obtained  ammunition, 
and  dispatched  the  adjutant  to  report  to  Col. 
Greusel  the  condition  and  whereabouts  of  the 
regiment.  He  returned  without  seeing  the 
Colonel.  Lieut.  Watkins  soon  rode  up  and  vol 
unteered  to  take  a  message  to  Col.  Greusel,  or 
Gen.  Sheridan.  He  also  returned  without  find 
ing  either  officer.  I  now  went  in  search  of  Gen. 
Sheridan  myself;  found  him  at  12  o'clock,  and 
reported  to  him  the  regiment  (what  there  was 
left  of  it)  ready  to  move  to  the  front.  He  or 
dered  that  I  should  hold  the  regiment  in  read 
iness  and  await  his  commands. 

"At  2  o'clock  p.  m.  I  received  orders  from 
Gen.  Sheridan  to  advance  to  the  front  to  the 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  119 

left  of  the  railroad  and  connect  my  command 
temporarily  with  Col.  Leibold's  brigade.  We 
were  here  subject  to  a  very  severe  artillery  fire. 
A  twelve-pound  shell  struck  in  the  right  of  the 
regiment  and  killed  Lieut.  Soren  L.  Olson*  (a 
brave  and  faithful  officer,  commanding  com 
pany  F),  Corporal  Riggs,  and  wounding  three 
others.  At  dark  we  were  moved  by  Lieut.  Den 
ning  one  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  rear,  where  we 
remained  for  the  night.  At  three  o'clock  in  che 
morning  of  the  first  of  January,  1863,  by  order 
of  Gen.  Sheridan,  we  marched  to  his  head  quar 
ters  on  the  Nashville  pike,  a  distance  of  half  a 
mile,  where  at  daylight  I  reported  to  Col.  Greu- 
sel.  As  ordered  by  him  we  took  position  to  the 
right  of  Capt.  Bush's  battery,  fronting  west. 
We  built  a  barricade  of  logs  and  stone  and  re 
mained  through  the  day  ready  to  receive  the 
enemy,  but  no  attack  was  made.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  second,  the  regiment  was  in  line  at 
four  o'clock;  stood  under  arms  until  daylight. 
We  remained  ready  for  action  through  the  day 
until  four  o'clock  p.  m.,  when,  by  order  of  Col. 
Greusel,  we  moved  to  the  right  on  the  line  for 
merly  occupied  by  Gen.  Davis.  During  the 
night  considerable  skirmishing  occurred  on  our 
front.  On  the  morning  of  the  3rd  instant  the 
regiment  stood  under  arms  from  four  o'clock 
until  daylight.  At  eight  o'clock  a.  m.,  by  order 
of  Col.  Greusel,  we  changed  position  to  the  right 
and  somewhat  to  the  rear,  letting  our  right  rest 
upon  the  Nashville  pike.  On  the  morning  of 
the  fourth  we  were  under  arms  at  four  o'clock. 

*Col.  Porter  C.  Olson's  brother. 


120  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

No  fighting  occurred  on  our  part  of  the  line  dur 
ing  the  day.  In  the  action  throughout,  the 
regiment  behaved  in  the  most  gallant  manner. 
The  officers,  with  only  a  single  exception,  dis 
tinguished  themselves  for  bravery  and  coolness. 
The  men  w^ith  unflinching  courage  were  al 
ways  ready,  and  met  the  enemy  with  a  deter 
mination  to  conquer.  I  tender  my  thanks  to 
Adjutant  (George  G.)  Biddulph  for  the  gallant 
and  efficient  manner  in  which  he  assisted  me, 
and  also  to  the  other  officers  for  their  gallant 
action  throughout  the  strong  conflict,  which 
resulted  in  victory.  I  append  to  this  report  a 
list  of  casualties. 

"  (Signed)  PORTER  C.  OLSON, 

''Captain,  Commanding  $6tk  Illinois  Vols" 
Of  the  engagement  thus  described  by  Porter 
C.  Olson,  Gen.  Rosecrans  says:  "The  firing 
was  terrific,  and  the  havoc  terrible.  The  enemy 
retreated  more  rapidly  than  they  had  advanced. 
In  forty  minutes  they  lost  two  thousand  men." 
In  his  report  of  this  bloody  battle,  Gen.  P.  H. 
Sheridan  says :  "I  refer  with  pride  to  the  splen 
did  conduct,  bravery  and  efficiency  of  the  fol 
lowing  regimental  commanders,  and  the  officers 
and  men  of  their  respective  commands:  Major 
Silas  Miller,  36th  111.,  wounded  and  a  prisoner; 
Capt.  P.  C.  Olson,  36th  111."  The  36th  Illinois 
suffered  more  than  any  other  regiment  in  this 
battle,  the  list  of  the  dead  and  wounded  filling 
two  closely-printed  pages  in  Bennett's  History. 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  121 

Although  Col.  Heg  and  Col.  Olson  probably 
were  strangers  to  each  other,  it  is  interesting 
to  note  the  fact,  that  Colonel  Hans  C.  Heg  also 
was  present  and  took  an  important  part  in  the 
battle  of  Stone  River,  attracting  the  attention 
and  admiration  of  his  superiors  for  his  great 
bravery  and  efficiency.  Col.  Heg  and  Col.  Olson, 
both  sons  of  pioneer  immigrants  from  Norway, 
fought  together  in  the  battle  of  Stone  TJiver  and 
on  several  other  bloody  battle-fields.  They 
were  both  destined  to  meet  death  in  later  en 
gagements  for  the  life  of  our  dear  republic,  but 
their  fame  shall  henceforth  go  linked  together 
down  to  the  latest  generations  of  the  descend 
ants  of  Norwegians  in  America. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1863,  Col.  N.  Greusel 
felt  constrained  from  the  state  of  his  health 
to  tender  his  resignation,  which  was  accepted. 
Captain  Jenks,  of  Company  A,  Cavalry,  was  pro 
moted  to  take  his  place.  "He  was  a  man  of 
excellent  abilities,  of  fine  taste  and  culture,  a 
man  whom  to  know  was  to  esteem,"  says  Mr. 
Bennett,  "but  unfortunately  he  found  himself 
in  a  position  equally  unpleasant  for  himself  and 
the  regiment.  It  was  felt  that  the  two  com 
panies  of  cavalry  attached  to  the  36th  Illinois, 
being  so  distinct  in  organization  and  service, 
ought  not  to  be  reckoned  in  the  line  of  promo- 


122  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

tion,  but  that  the  regimental  officers  should  be 
taken  from  the  regiment  itself.  This  feeling 
was  so  intense  that  neither  kindness  nor  disci 
pline  could  overcome  it.  At  one  time  it  seemed 
so  high  that  it  almost  threatened  mutiny,  when 
Col.  Jenks  wisely  resigned  and  returned  to  his 
profession,  in  which  he  proved  himself  so  suc 
cessful."  The  result  was  that  Capt.  Porter 
C.  Olson  again  took  command  of  the  regiment. 

On  the  llth  of  May,  1863,  Olson  was  regularly 
appointed  lieutenant  colonel,  and  took  com 
mand  of  the  regiment  for  Silas  Miller,  who  had 
received  a  commission  as  colonel,  but  was  still 
a  prisoner  at  Libby  and  did  not  return  till  May 
22.  The  promotion  of  Olson  to  the  lieutenant 
colonelcy  "was,"  says  Mr.  Bennett,  "highly  hon 
orable  to  that  worthy  officer,  whose  fidelity  and 
courage,  tested  both  in  camp  and  field,  had  won 
the  confidence  of  the  regiment.  The  appoint 
ment,  too,  will  never  cease  to  be  equally  hon 
orable  to  Major  George  D.  Sherman,  who, 
though  himself  the  ranking  officer  and  entitled 
to  the  position,  recommended  Capt.  Olson." 
This  was  an  instance  of  self-abnegation  as  hon 
orable  as  it  is  rare,  and  speaks  volumes  both  for 
Mr.  Olson  and  Mr.  Sherman. 

It  does  not  concern  Col.  Olson,  but  it  inter 
ested  me  immensely  to  find  that  in  1863  the  36th 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  128 

tf 

Illinois  resolved  to  carry  a  library  of  books  with 
them  for  the  social  happiness  and  mental  and 
moral  improvement  of  the  soldiers,  and  that 
my  publishers,  Messrs.  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  of 
Chicago,  sold  them  the  books  and  presented 
the  regiment  with  a  copy  of  Webster's  Una 
bridged. 

The  36th  Illinois  suffered  terribly  in  the  bat 
tle  of  Chickamauga,  where  our  gallant  Col. 
Hans  E.  Heg  was  shot  on  the  19th  of  September 
and  died  the  following  day,  September  20.  Here 
is  a  glimpse  of  Col.  Olson  on  the  day  that  Col. 
Heg  died.  I  take  it  from  Bennett's  History: 
"In  the  meantime  the  fiery  conflict  grew  more 
desperate  and  deadly.  Col.  Miller,  on  whom 
the  command  of  the  brigade  devolved,  gallant 
as  ever;  Lieut.  Col.  Olson,  brave  to  a  fault,  and 
Major  Sherman,  true  and  unflinching,  were 
everywhere  conspicuous,  encouraging  the  men 
by  their  example  to  wring  from  unwilling  hands 
of  fate  the  victory  which  was  denied." 

At  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge  Col.  Olson 
again  commanded  the  regiment  and  led  it  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight. 

On  February  2,  1864,  the  regiment  returned 
to  Chicago  and  a  few  days  later  to  Aurora, 
where  it  was  reorganized  and  started  for  the 
south  again  on  the  19th  of  March,  with  Miller 


124  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

as  colonel  and   Porter  C.  Olson   as   lieutenant 
colonel. 

As  evidence  of  Olson's  popularity  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  the  ground  on  which  they 
camped  near  Cowan,  Tenn.,  was  called  Camp 
Olson.  From  June  until  the  24th  of  August 
Olson  was  absent  from  the  regiment  on  account 
of  sickness,  but  upon  the  death  of  Col.  Silas  Mil 
ler,  he  returned  and  resumed  command.  On 
the  23d  of  September,  1864,  the  anniversary  of 
the  mustering  in  of  the  regiment,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  men  and  one  officer,  whose 
three  years  had  expired,  were  mustered  out  and 
took  leave  of  their  comrades.  Being  drawn 
up  in  line,  they  were  addressed  in  a  speech  by 
Col.  Olson,  who  "reviewed  their  connection  with 
the  regiment,  honored  their  fidelity,  and  ex 
horted  them  to  be  true  to  the  country,  as  citi 
zens  at  home,  while  their  comrades  continued 
to  bear  the  hardships  of  camp  and  field." 

On  the  30th  of  November  occurred  the  bloody 
fight  and  slaughter  at  Franklin,  Tenn.  For  his 
successful  resistance  and  victory  in  this  battle, 
Gen.  Scofield  was  in  a  large  measure  indebted 
to  the  cool  courage  of  Col.  Olson  and  the  gal 
lant  36th  in  checking  and  delaying  the  march 
of  Hood's  army  until  the  works  at  Franklin 
were  strengthened.  It  was  a  delicate  and  dan- 


THE  SLOOP  PARTY.  125 

gerous  duty  to  clear  the  pike  and  hold  it  open 
to  enable  the  troops  from  Columbia  to  pass 
without  interruption,  and  Col.  Olson  with  his 
regiment  was  selected  to  do  this. 

In  the  battle  of  Franklin,  Col.  Olson  was 
everywhere  among  his  men  with  words  of  cheer 
and  encouragement,  and  utterly  regardless  of 
his  own  life  and  safety.  Shortly  after  reach 
ing  the  works  he  was  struck  by  a  musket  ball, 
which  entered  his  breast  and  passed  through 
his  body  in  the  region  of  the  heart.  He  fell  in 
stantly,  but  in  falling  he  requested  Lieut.  Hall 
of  Company  E  to  take  him  to  the  rear.  As 
sisted  by  Sergeant  Yarnell  of  Company  G,  they 
carried  him  to  the  shelter  of  a  brick-house 
standing  near  the  works,  when,  perceiving  that 
he  was  failing  fast,  the  lieutenant  called  to 
Capt.  Biddulph  to  attend  to  the  regiment  as  the 
colonel's  wound  w^as  mortal.  Yarnell  wrenched 
a  window  shutter  from  the  house,  on  which  the 
bleeding  body  of  their  commander  was  placed 
and  hurriedly  borne  to  the  rear,  while  musket 
balls  and  cannon  shot  were  striking  around 
them  in  fearful  quantities. 

Reaching  the  river,  they  were  none  too  soon 
to  secure  the  last  vacant  place  in  an  ambulance 
in  which  he  was  tenderly  placed  by  the  side  of 
the  wounded  color-bearer,  Mr.  Zimmer.  Then 


126  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

taking  a  last  look  at  their  dying  chief,  they  hur 
ried  back  to  the  trenches,  resumed  their  posi 
tion  in  the  line  and  fought  bravely  to  the  end. 
The  colonel's  life  ebbed  rapidly  away  and  in  a 
half  unconscious  state  the  pious,  god-fearing 
soldier  feebly  whispered,  "Oh,  help  me,  Lord!" 
These  were  his  last  words  and  his  heart  was 
still.  His  noble  spirit  had  taken  its  flight  to 
that  country  where  wars  and  battles  are  un 
known.  L.  G.  Bennett,  in  whose  work  this  ac 
count  of  Col.  Porter  C.  Olson  is  found,  closes 
the  chapter  on  Col.  Olson's  death  with  these 
eloquent  and  striking  words :  "When  brave 
Olson  fell,  a  cold  tremor  thrilled  along  the  line. 
At  any  other  time  than  in  the  face  of  the  enemy 
and  under  a  murderous  fire,  the  men  would 
have  sat  down  and  cried  like  children  over  his 
untimely  fate.  Brave,  generous,  earnest  and 
faithful,  none  had  stood  more  honestly  by  the 
men  or  been  more  true  to  the  country  than  he. 
Always  present  in  the  perils  and  hardships  of 
the  36th,  he  had  shared  them  all  and  won  his 
way  into  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  men, 
making  a  record  of  glory  that  will  never  be 
closed  up  or  forgotten,  though  his  mangled  re 
mains  may  moulder  and  lay  hidden  from  sight 
in  an  unknown  and  unmarked  grave.  The 
name  of  Porter  C.  Olson  will  live  forever,  and 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  127 

be  handed  down  along  the  imperishable  ages, 
indissolubly  linked  with  the  fame  of  the  im 
mortal  Thirty-Sixth." 

I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  embellish  this  vol 
ume  with  a  portrait  of  Col.  Olson.  It  shows  a 
peculiarly  mild,  intelligent  and  thoughtful  face. 
This  grand  life  and  Col.  Olson's  splendid  serv 
ices  resulted  from  the  immigration  of  his 
father,  Ole  Olson,  in  1825,  and  many  a  descend 
ant  of  Norwegian  immigrants  appreciates  the 
force  and  significance  of  this  remark. 

Six  of  this  memorable  Restauration  party 
are  still  (spring,  1895)  living,  viz.: 

1.  Mrs.  Sara  T.  Richey,  a  daughter  of  Oyen 
Thompson.     She  was  born  March  9,  1818,  four 
teen  miles  south  of  Stavanger,  Norway,  and 
now  resides  at  Guthrie  Center,  Iowa. 

2.  Mrs.  Inger  Mitchell.     She  was  born  in 
Tysver  Parish,  Norway,  December  11,  1819,  and 
now  resides  at  Ottawa,  111. 

3.  Mrs.  Martha  Fellows.     She  was  born  in 
Tysver  Parish,  Norway,    September  27,   1823, 
and  now  resides  at  Ottawa,  111.     Mrs.  Mitchell 
and  Mrs.  Fellows  are  sisters,  and  daughters  of 
Cornelius  Nelson  Hersdal.       They  are  nieces 
of  Kleng  Peerson,  who  was  a  brother  of  their 
mother. 

4.  Mrs.  Margaret  Allen  Atwater,  a  daugh- 


128  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ter  of  Lars  Larson.  She  was  born  on  board  the 
sloop  September  2,  1825,  and  now  resides  at 
Western  Springs,  Cook  county,  111. 

These  four  became  the  wives  of  American 
husbands,  and  as  a  consequence  now  bear  old 
English  names. 

5.  Mrs.  Hulda  Olson,  born  in  Tysver  Parish, 
February  20,  1825,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Sten- 
son  Kossadal.     She  married  a  Norwegian  by 
name  Rasmus  Olson,  who,  as  seen  above,  died 
in  Sheridan,  Illinois,  in  1893.     Mrs.  Olson  still 
resides  in  Sheridan. 

6.  Mrs.  Jacob  Anderson  (Slogvig),  Serena, 
born  in  1814,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Madland. 
She  with  her  husband  removed  to  California 
and  became  wealthy.     Mr.  Anderson  died  in 
1864,  but  Serena  is  still  living  in  San  Diego, 
California.     I  received  a  letter  from  her,  dated 
February  17,  1895.  Mrs.  Olson  and  Mrs.  Ander 
son  still  bear  Norwegian  names. 

My  readers  will  be  pleased  to  find  portraits 
of  all  these  survivors.  It  will  be  seen  that  they 
are  all  women  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add 
that  they  very  reluctantly  gave  me  their  por 
traits  for  publication  in  this  volume. 

The  last  couple  to  survive  of  those  who  em 
barked  in  the  sloop  on  July  4,  1825,  were  Nels 
Nelson  Hersdal  and  his  wife  Bertha.  Mrs.  Nel- 


THE   SLOOP  PARTY.  129 

son  died  in  1882  and  Mr.  Nelson  in  1886,  a  little 
over  86  years  old.  The  last  male  survivor  was 
Nels  Nelson,  Jr.,  a  son  of  Cornelius  Nelson  and 
nephew  of  Kleng  Peerson.  He  was  born  in 
Tysver  Parish,  Norway,  June  29,  1816,  and  died 
at  Sheridan,  111.,  August  29,  1893.  His  wife, 
Catherine  Evenson,  is  still  living  in  Sheridan, 
111.  Her  father,  Knut  Evenson,  came  to  Amer 
ica  in  1831  in  the  same  vessel  with  Gjert  Hov- 
land,  who  was  mentioned  above  (see  p.  81).  lie 
settled  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  died  there.  Catherine  came  with  friends 
to  La  Salle  county,  111.,  in  1839.  Nels  Nelson 
was  usually  styled  Jr.,  to  distinguish  him  from 
Nels  Nelson  Hersdal,  who  was  called  Nels  Nel 
son,  Sr.  Nels  Nelson,  Jr.,  and  his  wife  Cather 
ine  had  ten  children,  four  of  whom  are  now  liv 
ing,  three  daughters  and  a  son.  The  son,  whose 
name  is  Cornelius,  lives  on  the  farm  in  Mission 
township,  La  Salle  county,  111.,  purchased  for  his 
grandmother,  Carrie  (Kari)  Nelson,  the  widow 
of  Cornelius  Nelson,  by  Kleng  Peerson,  be 
fore  she  moved  to  Illinois  in  1836.  On  this  farm, 
which  is  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quar 
ter  of  section  thirty-three,  township  thirty-five, 
range  5  E.,  3  P.  M.,  she  built  a  log  house  shortly 
after  her  arrival  and  me.de  her  home  there  until 


130  NORWEGIAN   IMMIttRAYIOW. 

she  died,  July  24,  1848.  As  heretofore  stated, 
my  parents  lived  in  this  house  with  Mrs.  Nelson 
for  several  months  after  their  arrival  in  Illinois 
in  1837.  This  farm  became  the  property  of  her 
son,  Nels  Nelson,  Jr.,  the  last  male  survivor  of 
the  sloop  party,  and  now  his  son,  Cornelius, 
has  it.  The  original  log  house  still  stands,  but 
has  been  sided  over  and  a  larger  frame  build 
ing  has  been  added  to  it;  but  it  still  serves  as 
a  home  for  a  grandchild  of  a  slooper.  I  speak 
thus  fully  of  this  farm,  because  it  is  beyond  all 
doubt  the  first  farm  selected  by  a  Norwegian 
in  America  west  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  it 
would  not  be  out  of  place  to  commemorate  the 
event  by  a  small  monument  in  honor  of  Mrs. 
Carrie  Nelson's  brother,  Kleng  Peerson,  of  Hest- 
hammer,  Tysver  Parish,  Skjold  District,  Stavan- 
ger  county,  Norway.  Perhaps  it  was  on  this 
land  he  lay  down  and  rested  and  had  his  mem 
orable  dream  of  which  I  shall  give  an  account 
later  on.  At  all  events  this  is  the  first  piece  of 
land  selected  by  a  Norwegian  in  the  great 
Northwest. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  be  able  to  give  por 
traits  of  Lars  Larson  and  his  wife,  Martha 
Georgiana;  of  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal  and  his 
wife  Bertha,  and  of  Nels  Nelson,  Jr.,  and  his 
wife  Catherine,  whom  he  married  May  8,  1842. 


THE   SLOOP   PARTY.  131 

The  portrait  of  Lars  Larson  is  from  a  daguer 
reotype  taken  after  death  and  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  daughter,  Mrs.  Atwater.  It  is  the 
only  portrait  in  existence  of  this  leader  of  the 
sloop  party. 

I  have  dwelt  long  on  the  sloop  party  and  feel 
that  I  may  have  exhausted  the  patience  of  my 
readers,  but  I  find  the  sloop  so  important  from 
every  point  of  view,  that  I  have  left  no  stone 
unturned  in  gathering  the  facts  in  regard  to 
its  passengers,  and  I  could  not  refrain  from  in 
corporating  in  this  work  a  condensed  statement 
of  all  the  information  in  my  possession.  In 
regard  to  the  fifty-three  passengers  I  have  given 
all  the  important  facts  that  I  have  been  able 
to  glean,  but  in  regard  to  their  descendants  I 
am  in  possession  of  much  that  I  could  not  use 
without  swelling  this  volume  into  undue  pro 
portions.  Meanwhile  we  may  now  consider 
the  sloop  party  disposed  of  and  go  back  again 
and  take  up  the  thread  of  our  narrative,  where 
we  dropped  it  with  the  foundation  of  the  first 
Norwegian  settlement  in  America  in  this  cen 
tury  in  the  town  of  Kendall,  Orleans  county, 
New  York,  in  1825-1836. 


132  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 


VL 
From  1825  to  1836. 

From  1825  to  1836  there  was  but  little  immi 
gration  from  Norway.  Before  1836  there  were 
no  vessels  carrying  emigrants  from  Norway  to 
America.  Those  Norwegians  who  did  emigrate 
came  either  by  way  of  Gothenborg,  Sweden,  or 
Hamburg  or  Havre,  in  all  of  which  cities  pas 
sengers  to  America  could  be  accommodated. 

The  Gothenborg  vessels  carried  Swedish  iron 
to  America,  but  emigrants  frequently  had  to 
wait  for  weeks  before  they  found  a  ship  bound 
for  New  York.  From  Hamburg  regular  packet 
ships  carried  German  immigrants,  but  these 
were  so  numerous  that  there  was  frequently 
a  delay  of  from  two  to  three  weeks,  before  they 
could  be  accommodated.  In  Havre  the  emi 
grant  packets  were  also  regular,  but  there  were 
not  so  many  emigrants  and  the  Norwegians 
could  count  on  getting  a  passage  on  the  first 
ship  leaving  the  port.  This  made  Havre  the 
most  popular  point  of  departure  from  Europe 
for  the  Norwegians. 

The  most  of  these    Norwegian    immigrants 


FROM  1825  TO  1836.  133 

joined  the  colony  at  Kendall,  N.  Y.  In  my 
travels  and  correspondence  I  have  been  able 
to  trace  a  considerable  number  of  these  and 
their  descendants,  and  I  shall  now  proceed  to 
mention  a  few  more  or  less  conspicuous  ex 
amples. 

Christian  Olson  came  from  Norway  in 
1829  and  settled  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.  After  liv 
ing  there  eight  years  he  moved  to  La  Salle 
county,  111.,  in  1837,  and  died  there  in  1858.  He 
was  married  three  times  and  left  one  son  by 
his  second  wife,  Kasmus  Olson,  who  married 
Hulda,  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Stenson  Kossa- 
dal,  and  died  in  1893  at  the  age  of  seventy-two, 
having  been  eight  years  old  when  he  came  to 
America.  His  widow,  Hulda  Olson,  who  came 
in  the  sloop,  is  still  living,  as  shown  above. 

Gudinan  Sandsberg,  whose  name  until  he 
emigrated  was  Gudmund  Osmundson  Fister, 
was  born  in  the  Parish  of  Hjelmeland,  Stavan- 
ger  Amt,  Norway,  in  the  year  1787.  He  emi 
grated  with  his  family  to  America  in  1829  and 
first  settled  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.  I  have  seen  the 
testimonial  from  his  pastor  in  Norway,  and  the 
following  is  a  translation  of  it: 

"Gudmund  Osmundson  Fister,  42  years  old, 
and  his  wife,  Mari  Pedersdatter,  33  years  old, 
took  communion  the  last  time  in  Fister  church 


134  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

the  17th  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1827.  They  have 
three  children,  Bertha,  baptized  December  26, 
1820,  Anna,  baptized  January  5,  1826,  and  Tor- 
bor,  baptized  November  18,  1827.  This  couple, 
whose  conduct  here  so  far  as  known  to  me  has 
been  christianlike,  now  intend  to  emigrate  with 
their  children  to  America  in  the  hope  of  there 
getting  better  conditions  thap  in  the  fatherland. 
God  the  Almighty  conduct  them  on  their  jour 
ney  through  time  and  eternity! 

"Hjelmeland  Parsonage,  June  9,   1829. 
"(Signed)  Hjorthoi" 

Mr.  Sandsberg  was  a  loyal  Lutheran  and  as 
is  clear  from  this  testimonial  he  did  not  leave 
Norway  to  escape  from  religious  intolerance 
or  persecution,  but  solely  to  better  his  condi 
tion.  I  have  also  examined  Sandsberg's  pass 
port,  which  states  that  he  was  born  in  the  Par 
ish  of  Hjelmeland,  that  he  was  "sixty-one  inches 
tall,  had  brown  eyes,  a  ruddy  face,  brown  hair 
and  broad  shoulders."  This  passport  is  written 
at  Sandsgaard  in  Eyfylke,  June  10,  1829.  It 
was  shown  in  Stavanger  July  8,  1829,  again  at 
Ny  Elfsborg  in  Sweden  July  12,  1829,  again  at 
Gothenborg  July  14,  1829,  and  finally  at  Ny 
Elfsborg  July  18,  1829.  This  is  evidence  that 
he  came  by  way  of  Gothenborg.  In  1836  Sands- 
berg  came  to  Illinois  and  made  his  home  in  Mis- 


FKOM  1825  TO  1836.  135 

sion,  La  Salle  county,  where  he  died  March  14, 
1840.  His  occupation  both  in  Norway  and  in 
America  was  that  of  a  farmer.  He  was  well 
educated  in  Norwegian  and  could  also  read  and 
write  English.  The  signature  on  his  passport 
shows  the  handwriting  of  a  man  well  trained 
in  the  art  of  writing. 

Gudmund  Sandsberg  lived  at  Fister  before 
he  came  to  America,  and  until  that  time  he 
signed  himself  Gudmund  Osmundson  Fister. 
His  father  lived  at  Sandsberg  and  when  Gud 
mund  came  to  America  he  assumed  that  name. 

When  Knud  Slogvig  went  to  Norway  in  1835, 
he  carried  with  him  a  letter  from  Gudmund 
Sandsberg  to  his  friend  Andreas  Sandsberg  at 
Hellen,  in  Norway.  Andreas  answered  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1836,  and  this  letter  from  Andreas 
to  Gudmund  is  with  other  documents  still  pre 
served  by  the  family.  The  family  letters  were 
loaned  to  me,  and  from  the  above  epistle  I  made 
the  following  interesting  extract:  "A  consid 
erable  number  of  people  are  now  getting  ready 
to  go  to  America  from  this  Amt  (that  is,  Sta- 
vanger  Amt).  Two  brigs  are  to  depart  from 
Stavanger  in  about  eight  days  from  now,  and 
will  carry  these  people  to  America,  and  if  good 
reports  come  from  them,  the  number  of  emi 
grants  will  doubtless  be  still  larger  next  year. 


136  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

A  pressing  and  general  lack  of  money  entering 
into  every  branch  of  industry,  stops  or  at  least 
hampers  business  and  makes  it  difficult  for 
many  people  to  earn  the  necessaries  of  life. 
While  this  is  the  case  on  this  side  of  the  At 
lantic  there  is  hope  of  abundance  on  the  other, 
and  this,  I  take  it,  is  the  chief  cause  of  this 
growing  disposition  to  emigrate.  I  am  very 
anxious  to  get  a  letter  from  you,  in  which  I  beg 
you  to  inform  me  about  your  own  circumstances 
and  about  the  condition  of  the  country  in  gen 
eral." 

This  letter  is  valuable  in  as  much  as  it  throws 
light  on  Knud  Slogvig's  return  to  Norway.  It 
fixes  the  year  of  that  visit  as  1835.  It  also 
helps  us  in  regard  to  the  date  of  the  departure 
of  the  Kohler  brigs  from  Stavanger  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1836.  We  are  also  glad  to  get  so  full  a 
statement  from  a  person  who  was  in  the 
midst  of  it,  in  regard  to  the  cause  of  the  emi 
gration.  While  religious  persecution  drove 
the  sloop  people  to  America,  and  while  dissat 
isfaction  with  the  social  and  political  condi 
tions  in  Norway  caused  many  to  renounce  the 
land  of  their  fathers,  still  we  must  not  forget 
that  a  hope  of  securing  better  opportunities 
than  the  parent  soil  could  offer,  was  a  most 
potent  cause  of  emigration. 


FROM  1825  TO  1836.  137 

I  have  seen  a  letter  written  by  Andreas 
Sandsberg  to  Gudnmnd  Sandsberg,  dated  at 
Hellen,  September  12,  1831,  in  which  the  writer 
also  describes  the  hard  times  in  Norway,  and 
mentions  the  enormous  prices  of  rye  and  barley. 
He  tells  about  the  war  between  Russia  and  Po 
land  and  about  the  terrible  cholera  epidemic, 
then  raging  throughout  Europe,  and  he  ascribes 
the  hard  times  to  these  causes.  Under  date  of 
May  14,  1836,  Osmund  Anderson  Sandsberg 
writes  to  Gudmund  to  inquire  about  Anders 
Enochson  Qusedland,  who  left  Norway  about 
the  year  1806  as  a  sailor,  and  presumably  went 
to  America.  A  letter  had  been  received  from 
him,  written  in  America  in  1825.  There  was 
money  for  Enochson  in  Norway,  and  Osmund 
requests  Gudmund  to  look  him  up  and  so  find 
out  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  money. 

Gudmund  Sandsberg's  daughter  married  a 
Mr.  Mitchell.  She  still  lives  in  Ottawa,  111.,  and 
her  son,  M.  B.  Mitchell,  is  a  wholesale  dealer 
in  cigars  in  that  city.  The  letters,  testimonial 
and  passport  to  w^hich  I  have  referred  belong 
to  Mrs.  Mitchell,  and  were  kindly  loaned  me  by 
her  son,  M.  B.  Mitchell.  On  examining  these 
documents  I  could  not  help  thinking  what  a 
help  it  would  be  to  the  historian  if  people 
would  take  better  care  of  their  old  letters  and 


138  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

other  written  and  printed  documents.  Those 
who  have  no  place  to  take  care  of  them  should 
present  them  to  some  historical  society,  where 
they  might  be  preserved  for  reference. 

According  to  the  best  information  I  have 
been  able  to  obtain,  Johan  Nordboe  came  to 
Kendall,  N.  Y.,  in  1832.  He  was  from  the  east 
ern  part  of  Norway,  and  took  his  name  from 
Nordboe  in  Kingebo  in  Gudbrandsdal.  His  wife 
was  from  CEsterdalen.  Nordboe  spent  three 
years  in  Kendall,  but  did  not  seem  to  get  on 
well  writh  his  countrymen  there,  who  were  all 
from  the  western  part  of  Norway,  and  the  Sta- 
vangerings,  including  Kleng  Peerson,  did  not 
seem  willing  to  give  the  man  from  Gudbrands 
dal  a  fair  chance.  To  Ole  Canuteson,  now  of 
Waco,  Texas,  he  made  the  statement  that  he 
could  not  get  in  Kendall  the  nice  farm  that 
he  wanted,  and  that  Kleng  Peerson  insisted  on 
his  taking  an  inferior  one,  which  he  did  not  ac 
cept.  Johan  Nordboe  and  Kleng  Peerson  were 
not  therefore  the  best  of  friends  for  a  time,  but 
in  their  later  years  they  seem  to  have  become 
nearly,  if  not  entirely,  reconciled  and  their  re 
lations  in  Texas  were  friendly.  In  Norway 
Johan  Nordboe  had  been  an  itinerant  physician 
and  he  also  practiced  the  healing  art  after  he 
came  to  this  country.  I  learn  of  his  vaecinat- 


FROM  1*25  TO  1836.  139 

ing  children  both  in  Kendall  and  in  the  Fox 
River  settlement.  Mrs.  Norboe  was  a  midwife. 

In  1836  he  moved  to  Illinois,  but  dfd  not  seem 
to  like  it  there  any  better  than  in  Kendall,  and 
so  we  find  him  removing  first  to  Missouri  in 
1837  (Shelby  county),  and  then  to  Texas  in  1838. 
So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  he  was  the 
first  Norwegian  who  ever  went  to  Texas.  He 
had  no  desire  to  found  a  Norwegian  settlement. 
On  the  contrary,  his  aim  seemed  to  be  to  get 
away  from  his  countrymen.  He  settled  in  Dal 
las  county,  Texas,  where  for  himself  and  family 
he  got  a  bonus  of  1,920  acres  of  land. 

He  was  living  in  Dallas  county  when  the  Rei- 
ersons  and  Wserenskjolds  came  to  Texas  in 
1845  In  the  early  fifties  he  visited  the 
Waerenskjolds  at  Four  Mile  Prairie.  In  a 
letter  to  me  the  late  Mrs.  Elise  Wserenskjold 
describes  him  as  a  student  of  history  and 
science.  She  say  he  was  skillful  in  draw 
ing  and  had  talents  for  sculpture.  When 
she  saw  him,  he  was  a  small,  feeble  man 
about  eighty  years  old.  Although  he  did  not 
like  to  live  in  a  Norwegian  settlement,  he  felt 
a  deep  interest  in  his  countrymen,  and  when 
he  learned  that  the  Reiersons  and  Waeren- 
skjolds  were  living  at  Four  Mile  Prairie,  old 
and  feeble  as  he  was,  he  could  not  help  making 


140  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

them  a  visit.  He  was  unable  to  ride  horseback, 
and  his  sons  who  did  not  share  their  father's 
desire  to  meet  countrymen,  being  unwilling  to 
take  him  with  team  and  wagon,  the  old  man 
trudged  on  foot  the  long  way  from  Dallas  to 
Four  Mile  Prairie  and  arrived  there  a  little  be 
fore  Christmas,  1851.  He  spent  the  Yule  holi 
days  there,  and  after  Chirstmas  Kleng  Peerson 
came  to  accompany  him  to  his  home.  This 
proves  that  he  and  Kleng  had  become  good 
friends  again.  Nordboe  was  not  entirely 
pleased  with  this  part  of  the  program,  as  it  was 
difficult  for  the  man  from  Gudbrandsdal  to 
keep  pace  with  the  old  Stavangering.  Mrs. 
Wserenskjold  adds  to  this  incident  that  Johan 
Nordboe  seemed  to  her  a  "very  kind  man." 
When  Nordboe  came  to  Texas  in  1838,  he  had 
three  sons,  and  he  left  a  married  daughter  in 
the  Fox  River  settlement,  the  wife  of  the 
slooper,  George  Johnson.  From  Dallas  county 
he  afterwards  moved  to  Tarrant  county,  where 
he  died  some  time  in  the  sixties,  but  I  have  no 
dates.  His  widow  and  sons  went  to  California, 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  them  and  find 
out  their  address.  The  two  oldest  sons,  Peter 
and  John,  were  married  to  American  women. 
Through  P.  C.  Nelson,  now  of  Lamed,  Kansas,  I 
learaed  that  John  Nordboe  vaccinated  some  of 
the  children  of  Cornelius  Nelson  Hersdal  in 


FROM  1825  TO  1836.  141 

Kendall,  and  the  rest  of  them  in  the  Fox  River 
settlement,  and  thus  I  was  able  to  get  at  the 
years  of  his  coming  to  America,  of  his  coming 
to  Illinois  and  of  his  departure  for  Texas. 

Knut  Evenson  and  family  came  from  Norway 
in  1831  and  settled  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
and  his  wife  died.  Their  daughter  Catherine 
went  with  friends  to  La  Salle  county,  111.,  in 
1839,  where  she  afterwards  married  Nels  Nel 
son,  Jr.,  the  last  male  survivor  of  the  sloop,  and 
she  still  lives  in  Sheridan,  111. 

Gjert  Hovland,  who  has  been  mentioned  al 
ready  and  who  will  be  mentioned  again,  came 
to  New  York  in  the  same  ship  with  Knut  Even- 
son  in  1831,  lived  four  years  in  Kendall,  N.  Y., 
then  removed  to  La  Salle  county,  111.,  where  he 
died  in  1870. 

There  is  a  remarkable  record  of  a  man  by 
name  Ingebret  Larson  Narvig,  who  came  from 
Tysver,  Stavanger  Aint,  in  the  year  1831.  He 
was  a  Quaker  and  clung  to  his  Quaker  faith 
to  his  dying  day.  He  arrived  alone  in  Boston 
and  then  footed  it  from  there  to  the  Norwegian 
settlement  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.  He  remained 
there  two  years  and  then  joined  Kleng  Peerson 
on  his  journey  to  Illinois  in  1833.  It  is  said 
that  there  was  a  third  Norwegian  in  this  com 
pany,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  any  fur- 


142  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ther  trace  of  this  third  party.  On  the  way  In- 
gebret  Larson  Narvig  left  Kleng  at  Erie,  Mon 
roe  county,  Mich.,  and  went  to  work  for  a 
farmer  six  miles  north  of  that  place.  Here  he 
married  an  American  woman  and  remained 
there  about  twenty-three  years.  His  wife  died 
and  he  married  her  sister,  and  moved  to  Wis 
consin,  settling  in  Green  Lake  county,  where 
he  resided  until  1885,  when  he  moved  to  Tyler, 
Minnesota,  where  he  died  January  21,  1892. 
Mr.  Jer.  F.  Fries,  banker  in  Toronto,  South  Da 
kota,  met  him  shortly  before  his  death,  and  in 
forms  me  that  old  Ingebret  had  forgotten  his 
mother  tongue,  but  spoke  English  with  a  Nor 
wegian  accent.  He  was  still  a  Quaker,  and  had 
his  old  Norwegian  Bible,  which  he  was  still 
able  to  read.  He  was  a  born  adventurer,  but 
his  religious  views  caused  him  to  lead  a  quiet, 
unpretentious  life.  A  daughter  of  his,  Mrs.  Car- 
rena  Vine,  living  at  Porter,  Minnesota,  and  Gil 
bert  J.  Larson,  of  Tyler,  Minnesota,  is  a  son  of 
our  Ingebret.  While  a  farmer  by  occupation, 
he  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  medicine. 
He  had  twelve  children,  five  of  whom  are  liv 
ing.  A  friend  of  this  interesting  immigrant 
writes  to  me  of  him :  "A  most  modest,  pleasant 
and  gentle  old  man  was  he.  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  me  to  have  known  him."  Ingebret  Larson 


FROM  1825  TO  1836.  143 

Narvig  is  to  be  remembered  as  the  first  Norwe 
gian  to  settle  in  the  state  of  Michigan. 

Early  in  the  year  1895,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Carrena  Vine,  a  daughter  of  Ingebret 
Larson  Narvig,  and  from  it  I  take  the  liberty 
of  making  the  following  extract: 

"I  will  try  to  give  you  a  short  sketch  of 
father's  life  as  told  by  him  to  *ne  at  different 
times. 

"He  was  born  near  Stavanger,  Norway,  Jan 
uary  8,  1808.  His  father  owned  the  farm  he 
lived  on  and  was  by  occupation  a  farmer  on  a 
small  scale,  keeping  at  the  same  time  a  number 
of  cattle,  sheep  and  goats.  My  father's  youth 
was  spent  taking  care  of  the  sheep  and  goats 
on  the  rocky  hills  of  grandfather's  farm,  and 
at  the  same  time  he  studied  the  religious  books, 
catechism,  etc.,  of  the  Lutheran  church.  In 
that  church  he  was  confirmed  as  a  small  boy. 

"But  his  heart  was  not  with  the  faith  of  his 
fathers,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  Quaker 
society  in  1826,  when  he  was  only  eighteen 
years  old.  He  lov^d  and  revered  the  faith  and 
teachings  of  the  Friends  throughout  his  long 
life.  He  served  as  a  sailor  for  a  short  time,  but 
his  companions  were  so  rough  and  profane  that 
he  left  the  sea  after  one  voyage.  In  1831  he 


144  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

came  to  America  and  settled  in  Michigan  in 
1833. 

"In  1840,  while  living  in  Michigan  on  his 
farm,  three  miles  from  Adrian  in  Lewaunee 
county,  he  married  Miss  Lydia  E.  Smith,  the 
daughter  of  William  Smith,  of  Farmington, 
N.  Y.  Two  children  were  born  to  them:  Even 
D.  and  Gilbert  B.  These  two  children,  he  often 
said  to  me,  were  as  dear  to  him  as  the  apple  of 
his  eye. 

"Lydia  died  in  1844.  Her  death  came  to  him 
like  a  cloud  in  a  clear  sky  and  was  the  first 
great  sorrow  of  his  life.  In  1847  he  married 
Chloe  A.,  the  sister  of  Lydia  and  my  mother. 

"In  1856  he  moved  to  Wisconsin,  and  bought 
a  farm  in  Green  Lake  county,  three  miles  from 
the  village  of  Marquette.  There  he  lived  and 
did  quite  well  as  a  farmer.  His  son  Even  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  once  more  his 
heart  was  filled  with  deepest  grief. 

"In  1876  my  mother  passed  away  and  then 
his  home  was  broken  up. 

"After  many  discouraging  experiences  with 
renters,  he  sold  the  farm  and  came  to  Minne 
sota  in  1885  and  made  his  home  with  Gilbert 
and  myself,  living  with  us  alternately.  He 
passed  to  the  great  beyond  January  21, 1892,  at 


FROM  1825  TO  1836.  145 

the  age  of  eighty-four,  at  the  home  of  his  son 
Gilbert,  and  was  buried  January  23,  in  the  cem 
etery  near  the  village  of  Tyler,  Minn.,  far  from 
the  land  of  his  birth,  and  far  away  from  the 
graves  of  his  mother,  wives  and  child." 

From  later  correspondence  with  Ingebret 
Larson  Narvig's  family  I  learn  that  two  of  his 
daughters  started  for  California  on  horseback. 
Their  names  were  Emma  and  Ida,  aged  re 
spectively  twenty-four  and  fifteen.  Ida  was 
forbidden  to  go,  but  she  left  clandestinely.  This 
occurred  in  1883.  Ida  eventually  gave  up  the 
ride  and  went  through  by  rail.  Emma  rode  a 
bay  mare  with  a  yearling  colt  running  at  her 
side.  She  was  very  fond  of  horses  and  this 
mare,  named  Kit,  was  given  to  her  by  her 
father.  The  horse  was  greatly  attached  to  her 
fair  rider.  Emma  carried  a  blanket  and  rested 
at  night  on  the  ground  with  the  horse  tethered 
at  her  side.  She  crossed  the  plains  and  of 
course  suffered  somewhat  for  lack  of  water,  but 
reached  San  Francisco  in  saftey,  though  very 
much  browned  and  weather-beaten.  Ida  met 
her  there  and  they  went  together  to  the  house 
of  Ingebret  Larson's  brother,  Elisha,  who  lived 
near  Oakland.  There  they  remained  a  year. 
They  then  rode  their  horses  most  of  the  way 
10 


14b  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

back  to  Minnesota.  These  two  girls  later  made 
a  journey  to  New  Mexico  in  a  wagon.  Such 
expeditions  certainly  show  that  these  girls  had 
inherited  some  of  the  old  Viking  spirit  and  en 
ergy. 

When  Ingebret  Larson  left  Michigan  in  a 
wagon  he  had  six  children,  but  the  three  young 
est  died  in  Kenosha,  Wis.  In  Marquette,  Green 
Lake  county,  Wis.,  he  went  to  the  home  of  his 
bachelor  brother,  Elias,  and  lived  there  more 
than  a  year  before  moving  onto  a  farm  that 
he  had  bought  near  his  brother's.  Elias  died 
at  Ingebret's  home  many  years  ago.  Elisha 
was  in  Oregon  when  last  heard  from. 


VII. 

The  Exodus  of  1836. 

Of  course  a  lot  of  letters  were  written  by  the 
Norwegians  in  America  to  relatives  and  friends 
in  Norway,  and  these  were  read  by  hundreds 
who  were  anxious  to  better  their  fortunes.  I 
have  already  mentioned  Gjert  Hovland  and 
Gudmund  Sandsberg  as  letter-writers,  and  we 
have  had  a  glimpse  of  the  character  of  their 
correspondence.  Of  Gjert  Hovland  we  know 


THE   EXODUS  OF   1836.  147 

that  his  letters  to  Norway  were  transcribed  in 
hundreds  of  copies  and  sent  from  house  to  house 
and  from  parish  to  parish  throughout  southern 
Norway.  Many  of  the  early  immigrants  have 
stated  to  me  and  to  others  that  they  were  in 
duced  to  emigrate  by  reading  copies  of  Gjert 
Hovland's  letters,  and  we  can  conceive  that  sim 
ilar  results  would  follow  from  reading  letters 
written  by  the  intelligent  Gudmund  Sands- 
berg,  by  Lars  Larson  and  by  many  others  of 
the  sloop  people. 

Finally  one  of  the  sloop  passengers,  Knud 
Anderson  Slogvig,  returned  to  Norway  in  1835, 
and  the  news  that  he  had  arrived  at  his  old 
home  in  the  Skjold  District  spread  far  and  wide 
and  created  the  greatest  excitement.  It  made 
him  the  hero  of  the  day.  People  traveled  hun 
dreds  of  miles  to  see  and  talk  with  him.  The 
letters  from  Gjert  Gregoriuson  Hovland  and 
others  had  been  read  with  the  deepest  interest, 
but  here  was  a  man  who  had  spent  ten  years 
in  the  New  World.  Through  Knud  Slogvig  the 
America  fever  spread  beyond"  the  limits  of 
Stavanger  Arnt  and  Christiansand  Stift.  Y\e 
find  people  in  the  south  part  of  Bergen  Stift 
discussing  emigration  to  America.  In  the  win 
ter  of  1835  and  1836,  we  find  that  three  men, 
relatives  of  the  well-known  Knud  Langland, 


148  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

went  from  Samnanger  in  Bergens  Stift  to 
Skjold,  to  visit  and  interview  Knud  £logvig. 
This  led  to  the  great  exodus  of  1836,  when  the 
two  Kohler  brigs,  "Norden,"  and  "Den  Norske 
Klippe"  were  fitted  out  for  emigrants  in  Sta- 
vanger  and  left  that  summer,  loaded  with  about 
two  hundred  passengers  for  New  York.  The 
America  fever  continued,  calling  for  two  ships, 
in  1837,  ".Egir"  from  Bergen,  and  "Enigheden" 
from  Egersund.  "Enigheden"  came  from  Eger- 
sund,  but  actually  sailed  from  Stavanger. 
Then  there  was  a  partial  lull  until  after  1840, 
when  the  America  fever  set  in  for  good  and 
it  has  continued  to  rage  eiver  since,  culminating 
as  already  stated  in  1882. 

The  immediate  cause  and  actual  leader  of  the 
exodus  in  1836  was  Knud  Slogvig.  His  return 
to  Norway  was  an  important  event  in  the  his 
tory  of  Norwegian  emigration,  and  as  he  was 
going  back  the  next  year,  he  naturally  became 
the  promoter  and  leader.  I  believe  his  chief 
purpose  in  returning  to  Norway  was  to  get  a 
wife,  for  he  married  a  sister  of  Ole  Olson  Hetle- 
tvcdt  and  the  great  interest  he  awakened  in 
America  was  doubtless  accidental.  After  his 
return  to  America  he  made  a  visit  to  Missouri 
with  Kleng  Peerson  in  1837,  but  aside  from  that 
he  lived  a  quiet  and  unassuming  life  as  a 


THE  EXODUS  OF   1836.  149 

farmer,  first  in  La  Salle  county  and  afterwards 
in  Lee  county,  where  he  and  his  wife  died. 

I  have  myself  known  personally  many  of 
those  who  came  in  "Norden"  and  "Den  Norske 
Klippe"  in  1836,  and  have  learned  of  others, 
through  their  friends  and  acquaintances.  It 
would  require  too  much  space  to  give  an  ac 
count  of  all  of  them,  even  if  this  were  possible, 
but  I  will  mention  some  of  them. 

Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld  was  born  on 
the  farm  Hornefjeld  on  the  island  of  Moster, 
near  Stavanger,  February  16,  1806.  He  emi 
grated  with  the  party  led  by  Knud  Slogvig,  in 
1836,  and  went  directly  to  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois.  In  1840  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  and 
after  purchasing  his  land  in  Albion, 
Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  he  went  back  to  La 
Salle  county,  Illinois,  and  there  he  married  Mrs. 
Tngeborg  Johnson,  the  widow  of  Erik  Johnson 
Saevig,  who  came  to  America  in  1836,  and  died 
in  the  Fox  river  settlement  in  1840.  Mr.  John 
son  was  from  Kvinhered  Parish,  in  Norway, 
and  was  born  in  1803.  He  left  two  children, 
John,  now  in  Wyoming,  and  Anna  Bertha 
(Betsy  Ann),  who  is  the  wife  of  John  J.  Naset, 
in  Christiana,  Dane  county,  Wisconsin.  In 
1841,  Arnund  Anderson  moved  with  his  wife 
and  two  step-children  to  Albion,  where  he  be- 


150  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

came  a  prosperous  farmer  and  died  ripe  in 
years,  March  18,  1886.  His  wife  was  born 
November  22,  1809,  and  died  November  7,  1884. 
They  left  several  children,  one  of  whom,  Soren 
Anderson,  owns  the  original  homestead,  where 
Rev.  Dietrichson  preached  his  first  sermon  on 
Koshkonong  in  the  fall  of  1844.  Amund  and 
Ingeborg's  portraits  are  given. 

Andrew  Anderson  Aasen,  from  Tysver  Parish, 
Skjold  district,  Stavanger  Amt,  came  in  1836, 
and  remained  two  years  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  with 
his  brother-in-lawT,  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal,  and 
came  to  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  in  1838,  where 
he  died  from  cholera  in  1849.  His  widow, 
Olena,  a  sister  of  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal,  died  in 
the  Fox  river  settlement  in  1875.  One  son  of 
his,  Einar  (Ener)  Anderson  came  with  his  par 
ents,  two  sisters  and  two  brothers,  to  Kendall, 
N.  Y.,  and  thence  to  La  Salle  county,  Illinois, 
and  is  still  living  on  his  farm  in  the  town  of 
Miller.  I  visited  him  in  1893,  and  found  that 
he  came  in  the  same  ship  with  my  parents. 
Although  now  77  years  old  he  is  still  hale  and 
hearty.  His  portrait  will  be  found  in  this  vol 
ume. 

Osmund  Thomason  came  in  1836,  settled  in 
La  Salle  county,  and  died  there  in  1876,  92  years 
old.  His  daughter  Ann,  who  was  born  July  4, 


THE  EXODUS  OF   1^36.  151 

1834,  married  Christopher  Danielson,  one  of  my 
best  correspondents  in  La  Salle  county,  and 
now  resides  in  Sheridan,  Illinois. 

Ole  T.  Olson  settled  in  La  Salle  county,  Illi 
nois.  His  widow  lived  until  1877,  when  she  died, 
over  90  years  old.  Their  son,  Nels  Olson,  lives 
on  the  old  homestead  in  the  town  of  Adams. 

Knud  Olson  Hetletvedt  came  from  Norway, 
with  his  wife  Serina,  in  1836.  He  was  a  brother 
of  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  who  came  to  America 
in  the  sloop,  and  of  whom  I  have  already  given 
some  account.  Both  Knud  and  his  wife  died 
from  cholera  in  La  Salle  county,  in  1849.  Their 
son,  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  the  namesake  of  his 
uncle,  was  born  in  Skjold  Parish  in  Norway, 
April  24, 1824,  and  now  resides  at  Norway,  Ben- 
ton  county,  Iowa.  He  has  been  helpful  to  me  in 
giving  me  facts  about  his  family. 

The  first  couple  to  emigrate  from  Voss,  in 
Bergen  Stift  in  Norway,  were  Nels  Kothe  and 
his  wife  Thorbjor.  They  emigrated  in  1836  and 
must  have  come  in  one  of  the  Kohler  brigs, 
from  Stavanger.  They  spent  a  year  or  two  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  then  moved  to  Chicago, 
where  they  died.  In  1839  we  find  them  living 
in  an  old  log  house  in  that  city. 

Among  the  Norwegians  who  emigrated  in 
1836,  I  may  still  mention  Lars  Larson  Brimsoe, 


152  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

who  was  born  October  14,  1812.  On  January 
1,  1849,  he  married  Anna  Hendrikson  Sebbe, 
from  Hjelmeland.  The  widow  came  to  Amer 
ica  in  1848,  and  now  resides  in  Strand,  Adams 
county,  Iowa.  Her  father,  Henrik  Erikson 
Sebbe,  came  to  America  in  1836  with  his  two 
sons.  They  first  settled  in  the  Fox  River  settle 
ment,  but  in  1848,  they  went  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  there  joined  the  Mormons.  I  take  it  that 
they  were  the  first  Norwegians  to  enter  the  ter 
ritory  of  Utah.  Since  the  death  of  Henrik,  in 
Utah,  several  years  ago,  nothing  has  been  heard 
of  the  family.  Lars  Larson  Brimsoe  came  from 
Stavanger,  where  he  was  born.  After  spending 
some  time  in  New  York  and 'in  Chicago,  as  a 
carpenter  and  sailor,  he  moved  to  the  Fox  River 
settlement.  There  he  soon  became  known 
for  his  ability,  and  he  was  repeatedly  elected 
to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  He  read 
law  extensively  and  made  contracts,  deeds  and 
wills  for  his  neighbors.  He  also  argued  cases 
in  justice  courts.  In  1858,  he  moved  to  Ben- 
ton  county,  Iowa,  in  1872,  to  Adams  county  of 
that  state,  and  in  1873,  to  Montgomery  county. 
In  the  last  named  county,  a  sad  accident  short 
ened  his  life.  One  dark  night,  September  26, 
1873,  as  he  was  coming  home  from  Yillisca,  on 
entering  his  yard,  near  his  home,  his  horses 


THE  EXODUS   OF   1836. 

backed  his  wagon  over  a  steep  embankment  and 
both  he  and  the  horses  were  killed. 

During  the  cholera  epidemic  in  the  Fox  Kiver 
settlement,  Lars  Brimsoe,  being  a  carpenter, 
was  employed  in  making  coffins  for  the  dead. 
In  order  that  Lars  himself  should  not  be  ex 
posed  to  the  terrible  disease,  the  neighbors 
would  run  the  boards  through  a  window  into 
his  shop,  where  he  made  the  coffins,  which  were 
returned  through  the  same  opening  in  the  wall. 
For  a  time  orders  came  in  faster  than  he  could 
fill  them. 

I  could  mention  many  more  of  those  who 
came  in  1836,  but  the  trouble  is,  I  have  gath 
ered  too  few  facts  in  regard  to  their  lives  and 
a  mere  list  of  their  names  would  not  be  very 
interesting.  I  would  simply  have  to  say  that 
Lars  B.  Olson  settled  in  La  Salle  county,  Il 
linois,  then  moved  to  Iowa,  where  he  died;  that 
Lars  B.  Mikkelson  settled  in  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  and  died  there;  that  Knud  Olson  lo 
cated  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  and  died  there 
in  1846,  but  the  reader  would  soon  get  tired 
of  this  sort  of  narration. 

Among  the  Norwegians  who  arrived  in  1836, 
though  not  in  either  of  the  Kohler  brigs,  I 
must  mention  Lars  Tallakson,  now  residing  in 
La  Salle  county,  Illinois.  I  visited  him  at  his 


\5t  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

hemp  In  August,  1894.  He  was  born  in  Bergen, 
Norway,  August  13,  1805,  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  and  six  years  after  his  marriage,  he  emi 
grated  by  way  of  Gothenborg,  and  landed  in 
New  York,  August  18,  1836.  He  remained  in 
New  York  two  years,  working  at  his  trade.  In 
1 838,  he  went  to  Clark  county,  the  northeast 
corner  of  Missouri,  and  remained  there  three 
years.  No  Norwegian  settlement  was  formed 
there,  and  Lars  Tallakson  left  Missouri  and  set 
tled  in  Lee  county,  Iowa,  near  Keokuk,  in  1841, 
and  remained  there  about  six  years.  He  joined 
the  settlement  which  Kleng  Peerson  founded 
there  in  1840.  From  there  he  went  to  the 
Bishop  Hill  colony  and  joined  Eric  Janson's 
society,  and  it  was  while  he  was  there  that  he 
saw  Kleng  Peerson  married  to  a  Swedish  Jan- 
sonite,  and  he  lent  Peerson  his  hat  for  the  occa 
sion.  He  soon  got  tired  of  Jansonism  and 
abandoning  the  colony,  he  removed  to  his  pres 
ent  home  in  La  Salle  county,  where  he  owns  a 
fine  farm  and  is  still  very  vigorous  for  his  age. 
He  deserves  to  be  remembered  as  one  of  the 
first  Norwegians  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  and 
to  reside  in  Missouri  and  Iowa. 

I  have  stated  that  Knud  Slogvig  was  the  pro 
moter  and  leader  of  the  exodus  in  1836;  but 
among  those  who  contributed  to  swell  the  num- 


THE   EXODUS   OF   1836.  155 

ber  of  emigrants,  I  may  be  permitted  to  men 
tion  my  father,  Bjorn  Anderson,  from  the  farm 
Kvelve,  in  Vigedal,  north  of  Stavanger.  It 
was  on  account  of  his  active  agitation  that  the 
emigrants  required  two  vessels,  instead  of  only 
one.  He  was  a  born  agitator  and  debater,  and 
I  have  it  from  persons  who  knew  him  well  in 
Norway,  that  Bjorn  Anderson  always  gathered 
a  crowd  around  him  outside  of  the  church  be 
fore  service  or  at  other  public  gatherings  to 
listen  to  his  sarcastic  criticisms  of  Norwegian 
laws  and  of  the  office-holding  class.  In  Sta 
vanger,  he  had  become  acquainted  with  Elias 
Tastad,  Lars  Larson  and  other  Quakers,  and 
while  he  did  not  formally  join  the  Quaker  so 
ciety,  he  was  in  close,  sympathy  with  the 
Friends,  and  he  always  said  that  if  he  ever 
joined  any  church,  it  would  be  that  of  the  Quak 
ers.  His  life  and  conduct  were  controlled  by 
Quaker  principles.  He  lived  on  a  farm  near 
the  sea,  and  when  he  became  of  age,  he  bought 
a  yacht,  and  became  a  trader,  exchanging  mer 
chandise  for  produce  in  Stavanger  and  at  other 
ports  in  the  vicinity.  When  he  learned  of 
America,  and  of  Knud  Slogvig's  plans  to  load 
a  ship  with  emigrants,  to  sail  from  Stavanger 
in  the  spring  of  1836,  he  at  once  decided  to  leave 
Norway  and  so  began  to  talk  to  his  friends 


156  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

about  the  land  in  the  far  west,  and  about  the 
advantages  offered  there  to  settlers.  He  was 
well  informed,  very  persuasive,  and  the  result 
was,  that  he  induced  many  to  join  him.  He 
was  practically  a  Quaker,  and  so  felt  more  or 
less  the  effect  of  the  persecution  of  all  dissent 
ers  from  the  established  church  of  Norway. 
But  this  was  not  all.  Besides  being  a  dissenter 
from  the  established  church,  he  had  married 
outside  of  his  class  or  station,  his  wife  being  the 
daughter  of  an  officer  in  the  Norwegian  army, 
and  this  was  an  additional  reason  for  his  wish 
ing  to  get  away  from  his  native  country.  He 
wanted  for  his  wife's  sake  to  get  to  a  land  where 
"a  man  is  a  man  for  a'  that,"  and  so  he  and 
his  wife  and  two  boys,  Andrew  and  Bruun,  born 
in  1832  and  1834,  became  passengers  in  the 
Kohler  brig  "Norden"  which  left  Stavanger  the 
first  Sunday  after  Pentecost  and  arrived  in 
New  York,  July  12,  1836.  Einar  Anderson 
Aasen,  who  came  in  the  same  ship,  and  still 
lives  near  Danville,  La  Salle  county,  Illinois, 
has  informed  me  that  all  the  passengers  looked 
up  to  Bjorn  Anderson  as  their  leader,  and  came 
to  him  for  advice  in  all  their  troubles. 

In  regard  to  his  life  in  America,  I  take  the 
liberty  of  reproducing  here  a  sketch  of  him  and 
of  my  mother,  written  for  a  Madison,  Wis.,  pa- 


THE   EXODUS   OF    1836.  157 

per,  immediately  upon  the  death  of  my  mother, 
which  occurred  October  31,  1885.  I  have  taken 
the  liberty  of  making  a  few  necessary  additions 
and  changes  and  inserting  some  dates,  and 
naming  a  few  places  in  order  to  make  it  con 
form  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  facts  as  I  know 
them. 

"On  Thursday  last  (Nov.  5,  1885)  Abel  Cath 
erine  Amundson,  was  laid  in  her  final  resting 
place  in  the  family  burying  ground  on  the  old 
homestead,  in  the  town  of  Albion,  Dane  county. 
She  died  Saturday  evening,  October  31,  at  the 
home  of  one  of  her  daughters,  Dina,  the  wife 
of  Kev.  T.  A.  Torgerson,  near  Bristol,  Worth 
county,  Iowa,  where  she  had  lived  during  the 
last  eighteen  years.  The  funeral  services  were 
conducted  at  the  East  church  on  Koshkonong 
prairie  by  the  former  pastor  of  the  family,  Rev. 
J.  A.  Ottesen,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  num 
ber  of  friends  and  relatives. 

"The  deceased  was  a  woman  of  remarkably 
beautiful  character,  equipped  with  those  vir 
tues  which  are  the  adornment  of  her  sex.  As 
she  was  the  first  white  woman  that  settled  in 
the  town  of  Albion,  Dane  county,  Wisconsin, 
some  facts  of  her  life  will  undoubtedly  be  of 
interest. 

"She  was  born  in  Sandeid  Parish,  Vigedal 


158  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

District,  Stavanger  Amt,  in  Norway,  October  8, 
1809.  Her  father,  Bernhardus  Arnoldus  von 
Krogh,  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  Norwegian 
army,  but  on  account  of  bodily  injuries  received 
in  the  service,,  he  had  been  obliged  to  resign 
and  had  settled  on  a  small  farm  called  Westbo, 
in  Sandeid,  as  a  pensioner.  Her  mother,  too, 
was  of  the  well-known  von  Krogh  stock,  the 
ancestry  of  which  presents  one  unbroken  line 
of  military  officers,  back  to  a  certain  Major 
Bernhardus  von  Krogh,  who  was  a  native  of 
the  free  city  of  Lubeck,  and  who  in  1644,  came 
with  troops  from  the  city  of  Bremen  to  render 
aid  to  Denmark  against  Sweden.  The  major 
was  married  to  a  certain  Alida  von  Bolten, 
daughter  of  Dietrich  von  Bolten,  at  one  time 
Burgomaster  of  Bremen.  Major  von  Krogh 
remained  in  the  Danish  service,  and  his  only  son 
George  Frederik  von  Krogh  became  Colonel  of 
a  Norwegian  regiment  in  1710.  His  descend 
ants  in  Norway  are  numerous,  and  the  great 
majority  of  them  became  military  officers. 
Two  of  them,  father  and  son,  each  of  whom  bore 
the  same  name,  George  Frederik,  were  at  differ 
ent  periods,  commanders  in  chief  of  the  Norwe 
gian  armies.  The  younger  of  these  (born  1732 

died  1818),who  served  his  country  sixty-eight 

years  was  the  right  hand  man  of  King  Frederik 


THE   EXODUS   OF    1P36.  159 

the  Sixth,  of  Denmark,  during  the  trying  days 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  when  the  Swedes  and 
Eussians  were  intriguing  for  the  cession  of  Nor 
way  to  Sweden. 

"In  the  month  of  July,  1831,  Abel  Cartherine 
von  Krogh  was  married  to  Bjorn  Anderson, 
from  the  farm  Kvelve  in  the  Vigedal  parish 
joining  Sandeid  on  the  east.  He  was  born 
June  3,  1801,  and  was  the  son  of  a  peasant. 
The  marriage  of  the  refined  daughter  of  a  mili 
tary  officer  to  a  peasant's  son,  naturally  caused 
some  bitterness  of  feeling.  The  fact,  too,  that 
Bjorn  Anderson  was  a  dissenter  from  the  state 
church,  and  sympathized  with  the  Quakers  who 
had  been  making  propaganda  in  Stavanger  city 
and  Amt  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  while  the 
von  Krogh  family  were  pious  and  loyal  Luther 
ans,  served  to  increase  the  displeasure  with 
which  this  marriage  was  regarded. 

"There  was  the  right  stuff  in  both,  however, 
and  they  determined  to  seek  their  fortune  in 
that  land  across  the  sea,  whose  star  was  begin 
ning  to  appear  above  the  horizon,  beckoning  to 
the  oppressed  of  Europe.  Accordingly  they 
left  Norway  in  the  spring  of  1836,  Bjorn  Ander 
son  being  with  Knud  Slogvig,  the  promoter 
and  leader  of  the  first  large  party  of  emi 
grants  that  came  to  America." 


160  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Having  arrived  at  New  York  city,  July  12, 
1836,  Bjorn  Anderson  and  his  wife,  with  their 
two  children,  Andrew  and  Bruun,  proceeded  to 
Kochester,  N.  Y.,  where  they  found  the  Quaker, 
Lars  Larson  (i  Jeilane),  who  was  very  kind  and 
helpful,  and  where  they  remained  one  year,  the 
husband  working  at  the  trade  of  a  cooper.  It 
was  on  this  account  he  received  the  soubriquet 
"Tondebjb'rn,"  that  is  Barrel-Bjorn.  This  nick 
name  clung  to  him  to  his  dying  day.  In  the 
spring  of  1837,  he  removed  to  the  town  of  Mis 
sion,  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  where  he  kept  his 
family  for  four  years,  that  is  until  the  spring 
of  1841.  The  first  six  months  they  lived  at  the 
house  of  Carrie  Nelson  (Kari  Hauge)  on  the 
farm  selected  for  her  by  her  brother,  Kleng 
Peerson.  Then  Bjorn  Anderson  lived  a  short 
time  at  the  house  of  Endre  Aarakerbo,  also 
called  Endre  Glasman,  whereupon  he  built  him 
self  a  small  log  house!  in  what  is  now  the  town 
of  Kutland,  near  the  "slooper,"  Endre  Dahl. 
The  place  is  located  about  a  mile  south  from 
where  Mr.  Claes  Claeson  now  lives.*  This 
Claes  Claeson  is  a  native  of  Norway,  born  Jan 
uary  13,  1832,  whose  parents  came  from  Nor 
way  to  Kutland  in  1843.  Bjorn  Anderson  did 
not  like  La  Salle  county,  and  bought  no  land 

~~*  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  summer  of  1894.— R.  B.  A. 


THE   EXODUS   OF   1836.  161 

there.  He  supported  himself  and  his  family  by 
working  for  the  neighbors,  being  handy  at  all 
kinds  of  work.  In  1837,  he  was  in  Chicago  and 
there  met  a  company  of  Norwegians,  among 
whom  was  Ole  Kyrming  (of  whom  more  later), 
but  Bjorn  Anderson  spoke  so  disparagingly  of 
the  Fox  Kiver  settlement,  saying  that  the  peo 
ple  there  starved  and  froze  to  death,  that  he 
indirectly  became  instrumental  in  inducing 
Ole  Kynning  and  his  friends  to  found  the  fatal 
Beaver  Creek  settlement.  Bjorn  Anderson  had 
never  been  at  Beaver  Creek,  but  his  severe 
criticisms  on  La  Salle  county  naturally  influ 
enced  the  immigrants  of  1837  to  seek  another 
locality.  Blame  has  been  cast  on  Bjorn  Ander 
son's  name  in  connection  with  the  Beaver 
Creek  fatalities,  but  this  is  utterly  unjust. 
While  he  disparaged  La  Salle  county,  he  did 
not  recommend  Iroquois  county,  which  he  had 
never  seen. 

"In  1840,"  to  again  adopt  the  language  of 
the  Madison  paper,  "Bjorn  Anderson,  with  sev 
eral  companions,  set  out  on  foot  on  an  explor 
ing  expedition  to  Wisconsin,  in  search  of  a  suit 
able  place  for  a  new  home.  They  determined 
on  a  tract  near  Lake  Koshkonong,  in 
what  is  now  the  town  of  Albion,  Dane  county, 
11 


162  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Wisconsin.  Two  of  his  companions  remained 
until  autumn,  being  unmarried,  while  Bjorn 
Anderson  returned  to  Illinois  at  once,  and 
all  of  them  spent  the  following  winter  in 
the  Fox  Eiver  settlement.  The  succeeding 
spring,  1841,  he  went  with  his  wife  and  now 
four  children,  to  their  newly  chosen  home  in 
Wisconsin.  They  were  the  first  couple  that  set 
tled  in  the  present  town  of  Albion,  and  the  tale 
of  hardships  that  that  fact  carries  with  it 
seems  but  a  sad  romance  to  a  younger  genera 
tion.  But  during  all  the  trials  of  this  pioneer 
life,  neither  flinched  for  a  moment.  The  chief 
characteristics  of  each  was  energy  and  will. 
He  was  bold,  restless,  pushing.  She  was  gen 
tle,  quiet,  persevering.  During  the  first  few 
years,  money  was  an  article  seldom  seen.  They 
subsisted  mainly  on  the  products  of  the  little 
farm,  and  with  what  little  produce  they  could 
spare  the  husband  went  with  oxen  to  Milwau 
kee,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  through  a  wil 
derness,  to  barter  for  a  few  necessaries  of  life. 
During  his  absence,  the  wife  remained  at  home 
with  the  children  and  with  the  red  men  as  an 
occasional,  but  fortunately,  not  unfriendly  vis 
itor.  Courage  and  perseverance  were  indeed 
cardinal  requisites  for  success  in  life  under  such 
circumstances.  These  characteristics  both 


THE   EXODUS   OF   1836.  163 

possessed  in  a  high  degree,  and  through  inces 
sant  toil,  in  the  course  of  time,  they  became 
comfortably  situated.  Their  original  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  acres  of  wild  land,  had,  at  the 
end  of  a  decade,  increased  into  an  improved 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  But 
the  battles  of  pioneer  life  having  been  success 
fully  fought,  a  new  and  more  terrible  enemy 
approached. 

"In  the  summer  of  1850,  the  cholera  swept 
through  the  settlement,  and  among  scores  of 
others,  Bjorn  Anderson  and  his  sixteen  year 
old  son  were  carried  off.  The  son,  Augustinus 
Meldahl  Bruun,  who  w^as  born  in  Norway,  died 
August  6,  and  Bjorn  Anderson  himself  four 
days  later,  August  10,  1850. 

"Thus  Bjorn  did  not  live  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of 
their  joint  labors.  Just  as  fortune  began  to 
smile  upon  them,  grim  death  snatched  him 
from  her  side.  Nor  was  it  his  lot  to  see  any 
of  his  children  pass  the  bounds  of  youth;  but 
his  oft  expressed  wish  that  a  brighter  future 
might  be  in  store  for  them,  his  wife  lived  to 
see  realized.  The  children  of  this  marriage 
were  ten  in  number,  eight  of  whom  are 
now  (1895)  living.  One  daughter  was  born, 
and  died  in  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  and  as  stated, 
one  son  died  in  1850.  The  oldest  son,  Arnold 


164  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Andrew,  born  in  Norway  in  1832,  is  a  well- 
to-do  farmer  in  Goodhue  county,  Minnesota. 
Elisabeth,  born  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois, 
in  1837,  married  Hans  Danielson,  who  served 
through  the  war  and  now  resides  on  a  farm  in 
Goodhue  county,  Minn.  Cecelia,  born  in  La 
Salle  county,  111.,  in  1840,  married  Eev.  S.  S. 
Eeque,  and  resides  at  Spring  Grove,  Minnesota. 
Martha,  born  in  Albion  in  1841,  and,  so  far  as  I 
know,  the  first  white  child  born  there,  married 
Lewis  Johnson,  a  Dane,  and  now  lives  on  a  farm 
in  Goodhue  county,  Minnesota.  Dina,  born  in 
Albion  in  1843,  married  Kev.  T.  A.  Torgerson, 
and  resides  in  Worth  county,  Iowa.  Basrnus  B. 
was  born  in  Albion  in  184G,  and  now  resides  at 
Madison,  Wis.  Abel  B.,  born  in  Albion,  in  1847, 
is  a  minister  of  the  gospel  and  college  professor 
at  Montevideo,  Minn.  Bernt  Augustinus 
Bruun,  born  in  Albion  in  1851,  is  a  merchant 
in  Spring  Grove,  Minn. 

"On  March  18,  1854,  the  widow  Anderson 
married  Bright  Amundson  from  Stavanger, 
Norway.  He  died  July  21,  1861,  leaving  one 
son,  Albert  Christian,  who  is  now  a  practicing 
physician  in  Cambridge,  Wis.  At  the  time  of 
her  death,  Mrs.  Amundson  had  fifty -three 
grandchildren  and  one  great-grandchild." 

After    the   death    of   Bjorn    Anderson,    the 


THE   EXODUS   OF    1836.  165 

widow  had  all  the  children,  except  the  oldest, 
baptized  by  a  Danish  Methodist  minister  by 
name  Willerup,  the  oldest  son  Andrew  having 
been  christened  in  Norway.  This  Willerup  sub 
sequently  removed  to  Denmark,  where  I  visited 
him  in  1885  shortly  before  he  died.  My  mother 
later  joined  the  Lutheran  church  in  Dane 
county,  and  was  a  most  loyal  and  pious  Chris 
tian  woman,  this  being  the  unanimous  testi 
mony  of  her  pastors,  her  neighbors  and  her 
children 

My  brother,  Arnold  Andrew,  who  was  born 
April  9,  1832,  tells  me  that  he  has  no  recollec 
tion  of  arriving  in  Kochester.  He  remembers, 
however,  that  the  family  lived  upstairs  in  a 
house  with  stairway  on  the  outside,  and  that 
below  on  the  first  floor  there  lived  an  "American 
family,  in  which  there  was  a  blind  fiddler.  He 
and  his  brother  Bruun  went  to  the  door  occa 
sionally  to  listen  to  the  music.  Father  worked 
in  a  cooper-shop,  and  mother  took  his  dinner 
to  him.  From  Eochester  they  went  by  canal 
boat  to  Buffalo  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Chi 
cago.  Andrew  describes  the  little  house  fhat 
father  erected  in  Illinois  as  built  of  logs,  with 
rough  boards  for  the  loft,  but  with  no  other 
floor  than  the  bare  ground.  This  house  had  to 
accommodate  not  only  my  father's  family,  but 


106  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

also  Lars  Scheie  and  his  family  and  Amund 
Rossaland  and  his  wife,  and  sons  and  daughter. 
The  sons  Elling  and  Endre  Rossaland  went 
with  their  father  to  Wisconsin,  and  the 
daughter  Anna  married  Tonnes  Tollefson, 
and  settled  in  Boone  county,  111.,  near 
Beloit,  Wis.,  where  I  visited  her  about  twenty 
years  ago.  This  Tonnes  Tollefson  came  from 
Klep  Parish,  Stavanger  Amt,  in  one  of  the 
Kohler  brigs  in  1836.  The  farm  on  which  he 
was  born  was  called  Oexnavar.  He  lived  four 
years  in  the  Fox  River  settlement  before  he 
moved  to  Boone  county.  His  wife's  father, 
Amund  Eossaland,  with  her  brothers,  Elling 
and  Endre,  settled  in  Fairfield,  Columbia 
county,  Wis.  There  they  all  died  except  Endre, 
who  spent  the  last  days  of  his  life  at  the  home 
of  his  sister  on  Jefferson  prairie.  Elling  was 
killed  by  an  accident  near  Kilbourn,  Wis. 
Tonnes  Tollefson  died  in  the  fall  of  1893  and 
the  widow,  Anna,  about  the  year  1888.  After 
my  father's  death  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tollefson  took 
my  sister  Cecelia  and  kept  her  a  couple  of  years. 
To  quote  my  brother  Andrew:  "The  log  house 
in  the  Fox  River  settlement  in  Illinois 
was  located  on  Endre  DahPs  land.  This  sloop 
family  lived  only  forty  rods  distant  and  owned 
a  farm.  Endre  Pahl,  Amund  Rossaland  and 


THE  EXODUS   OP   1836.  167 

Lars  Scheie  were  all  intimate  friends  of 
father's.  The  country  was,  of  course,  thinly 
settled,  but  father  was  a  worker  and  during  the 
three  years  spent  in  Illinois,  he  was  making 
preparations  for  a  home  of  his  own  somewhere. 
In  the  summer  of  1838  a  drove  of  cattle  came 
into  the  neighborhood,  and  father  bought  a 
large  cow  with  her  calf  and  paid  $40  for  them. 
The  cow  was  a  wonderful  milker.  The  next 
purchase  was  a  pair  of  black  steers,  large  size. 
These  steers  were  yoked  for  the  first  time  by 
an  American  neighbor,  and  when  they  were  let 
out  of  the  yard  to  be  driven  around,  the  Amer 
ican  took  hold  of  the  borns,  but  the  steers  got 
away  from  him  and  ran  against  a  tree  and  broke 
the  yoke.  During  1840  preparations  were  made 
to  locate  in  Wisconsin.  A  party  was  made  up, 
consisting  of  father,  Amund  Anderson,  Lars 
Dugstad,  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland,  Amund 
Rossaland  and  his  son-in-law,  Tonnes  Tollefson. 
It  was  understood  that  the  territory  of  Wiscon 
sin  had  been  surveyed  and  that  land  was  for 
sale  by  the  United  States  government.  They 
went  to  Koshkonong  (Albion,  Dane  county, 
Wis.),  and  father,  Amund  Anderson,  Lars  Dug 
stad  and  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland  bought 
land,  while  Amund  Kossaland  and  Tonnes  Tol 
lefson  were  not  satisfied  with  the  locality,  but 


168  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

went  further  south  and  located  in  Boone 
county,  111.,  near  Beloit,  Wis.,  in  the  so-called 
Jefferson  Prairie  settlement. 

"In  the  spring  of  1841  we  moved  to  Koshko- 
nong  with  all  our  belongings.  The  family  then 
consisted  of  our  parents,  myself,  Bruun,  Elisa 
beth  and  Cecelia.  Our  route  was  through 
Shabona  Grove  and  Eockford,  111.;  thence  to 
Beloit,  Janesville  and  Milton,  Wis.  From  Mil 
ton  we  went  due  north  to  Goodrich's  ferry 
across  Rock  river.  After  we  had  crossed  the 
river  I  can  remember  that  father  exclaimed: 
'Now  we  have  arrived  in  the  land  of  Canaan' 
(Naa  se  me  komne  i  Kanaans  Land).  Thorstein 
Olson  Bjaadland  was  with  us  with  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  father  had  the  black  steers,  which 
were  not  broke.  Both  Thorstein  Olson's  team 
and  ours  were  hitched  to  a  wagon  wnich  father 
owned.  Thorstein  Olson  and  Amund  Anderson 
had  built  shanties  on  their  farms  before  they 
returned  to  Illinois  in  1840,  and  we  lived  in 
Thorstein's  shanty  while  father  built  the  little 
log  house  down  by  the  spring  (the  house  in 
which  you,  Rasmus,  was  born)." 

"A  few  weeks  after  we  had  arrived  in  Albion, 
Amund  Anderson  (Hornefjeld)  came  with  his 
family.  Amund  had  gotten  married  that  same 
year  in  La  Salle  county,  111.,  to  Ingeborg,  the 


THE   EXODUS  OF   1836.  169 

widow  of  Erik  Johnson.  He  brought  his  wife 
and  two  step-children,  Betsey  Ann  (Anne 
Berthe)  and  John,  and  I  remember  the  enthu 
siastic  greeting  we  gave  them,  when  they  came 
to  Thorstein  Olson's  shanty.  They  moved  di 
rectly  into  the  shanty  that  Amund  had  built  in 

1840.  You  see  that  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland 
and  Amund  Anderson  Hornef  jeld  had  remained 
a  while  during  the  summer  of  1840  and  had  put 
up  these  shanties;  but  they  came  back  to  Il 
linois  and  spent  the  winter.     Thorstein  Olson 
came  with  us,  and  Amund  Anderson  came  a 
few  weeks  later,  in  1841.     The  earliest  actual 
settlers  in  that  neighborhood  that  I  remember 
were  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg  and  his  wife,  Knud 
Olson  Yindeg,  his  unmarried  brother,  and  Lars 
Kvendalen,  also  unmarried.     They  lived  in  the 
town  of  Christiana,  north  of  Albion.       They 
were  Norwegians  who  had  come  there  in  the 
summer  of  1840  from  Bock  county,  Wis.  Father 
had  engaged  Knud  Vindeg  and  Lars  Kvendalen 
to  split  some  rails  during  the  winter  of  1840  and 

1841,  so  as  to  have  them  on  hand  when  he  came 
there  to  locate  with  his  family  in  1841.     I  re 
member  seeing  the  rails  and  heard  father  com 
plain  that  they  were  made  too  small.       They 
were  made  in  the  timber,  on  the  hill,  a  short 
distance  from  our    bridge    across    the    creek. 


170  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Lars  Olson  Dugstad,  a  bachelor  from  Yoss  in 
Norway,  had  a  dugout  on  the  side  of  a  hill  near 
the  creek,  but  I  do  not  know  whether  it  was 
made  before  we  came  or  not.  He  continued 
to  live  in  it  until  about  1855  or  1856,  when  he 
got  married  and  moved  into  a  large  log  house. 
At  all  events,  father,  Amund  Anderson,  Thor- 
stein  Olson  and  Lars  Dugstad  each  bought 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Albion  in  1840  and  paid 
for  it,  and  father  pre-empted  forty  acres,  where 
the  house  was  built  by  the  spring." 


VIII. 
The  Second  Norwegian  Settlement  in  America. 

We  have  now  seen  how  the  first  Norwegian 
settlement  in  America  in  this  century  was 
founded  in  Kendall,  Orleans  county,  N.  Y.  We 
have  seen  that  it  was  not  destined  to  grow  into 
a  prominent  center  for  the  Norwegians  in  this 
country.  It  merely  served  as  a  sort  of  half-way 
home  for  those  who  came  between  the  years 
1825  and  1836,  and  for  some  of  those  who  came 
in  1836. 

We  have  seen  what  became  of  the  sloop  peo 
ple  and  of  some  of  those  who  came  after  them, 


SETTLEMENT   IN   AMERICA.  171 

down  to  the  year  1836,  and  I  have  also  given 
some  account  of  a  few  of  the  two  hundred  who 
sailed  from  Stavanger  in  1836.  In  showing 
what  became  of  the  sloop  people  and  of  those 
who  came  after  them  down  to  1836,  I  have  re 
peatedly  mentioned  other  Norwegian  settle 
ments,  and  I  am  now  prepared  to  consider  in 
detail  the  formation  of  the  second  Norwegian 
settlement  in  America  and  the  first  west  of  the 
great  lakes. 

Only  a  small  number  of  the  immigrants  of 
1836  stopped  in  New  York  state.  We  have 
seen  that  Andrew  Anderson  Aasen  went  with 
his  family  to  Kendall  and  remained  there  two 
years,  and  that  Bjorn  Anderson  Kvelve  re 
mained  a  year  in  Kochester  as  a  cooper.  The 
most  of  them  continued  their  journey  to  Chi 
cago  and  thence  to  Mission,  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  where  the  second  Norwegian  settlement 
had  already  been  founded.  This  location  had 
been  selected  by  the  restless  Kleng  Peerson 
Hesthammer,  from  Tysver,  Norway,  the  man 
who  with  Knud  Olson  Eide  came  to  America  in 
1821  and  returned  to  Norway  in  1824,  the  man 
who  came  back  to  America  in  1825,  and  was 
in  New  York  ready  to  receive  his  friends  in  the 
sloop;  the  man  who,  with  the  aid  of  Joseph  Fel- 


172  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

lows  and  other  Quakers,  selected  Kendall  as 
the  location  for  the  first  settlement. 

Kleng  was  without  a  shadow  of  doubt  the 
first  Norwegian  who  ever  came  west  of  the 
great  lakes.  He  seems  to  have  spent  several 
years  with  his  countrymen  in  Kendall,  but  I 
have  complete  evidence  that  he  visited  La  Salle 
county,  Illinois,  as  early  as  1833.  The  first 
Norwegian  settlers  located  there  in  1834,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  Kleng  had  been  there 
the  year  before.  Kleng  stated  that  when  in 
1833  he  was  exploring  the  country  afterwards 
occupied  by  his  countrymen  in  La  Salle  county, 
becoming  weary  one  day  he  lay  down  under  a 
tree  to  rest.  He  slept  and  dreamed,  and  in  his 
dream  he  saw  the  wild  prairie  changed  into  a 
cultivated  region,  teeming  with  all  kinds  of 
grain  and  fruit  most  beautiful  to  behold;  that 
splendid  houses  and  barns  stood  all  over  the 
land,  occupied  by  a  rich,  prosperous  and  happy 
people.  Alongside  the  fields  of  waving  grain 
large  herds  of  cattle  were  feeding.  Kleng  in 
terpreted  this  as  a  vision  and  as  a  token  from 
Almighty  God  that  his  countrymen  should 
come  there  and  settle.  He  forgot  his  pain  and 
hunger  and  thanked  God  that  he  had  permitted 
his  eyes  to  behold  this  beautiful  region  and  he 


THE  SECOND   SETTLEMENT  IN   AMERICA.      178 

decided  to  advise  his  countrymen  to  come  west 
and  settle  there.  He  thought  of  Moses,  who, 
from  the  mountain,  had  looked  into  the  land 
of  promise.  Eefreshed  and  nerved  anew  by 
his  dream,  he  went  back  to  Kendall  and  per 
suaded  his  friends  to  emigrate  to  La  Salle 
county,  111.  Kleng's  dream  may  have  been 
dreamed  awake,  but  it  has  been  fully  realized. 
The  early  days  of  this  Norwegian  settlement 
were  days  of  poverty  and  toil  and  they  repeat 
edly  suffered  terribly  by  Asiatic  cholera,  say 
ing  nothing  of  the  fever  and  ague  of  the  early 
days,  but  they  have  surmounted  their  trials,  and 
as  I  saw  them  in  the  summer  of  1894  they  were 
as  wealthy,  prosperous  and  happy  as  when  they 
were  seen  in  Kleng's  dream,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  that  generous  hospitality  with  which  I 
was  received  at  every  hand.  Those  were  happy 
days  indeed  that  I  spent  in  this  old  Norwegian 
settlement!  I  have  the  account  of  Kleng  Peer- 
son's  dream  or  vision  from  Knud  Langland, 
from  Christopher  Danielson  of  Sheridan,  111., 
from  his  niece,  Mrs.  Fellows,  in  Ottawa,  111.,  and 
also  from  several  others  to  whom  he  told  the 
story,  so  there  is  no  doubt  that  Kleng  himself 
related  it  as  a  fact. 

Kleng  Peerson   returned  to  Kendall,   N.    Y., 
and  in  the  spring  of  1834  he  with  several  others 


174  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

moved  out  to  Illinois  and  founded  the  so-called 
Fox  River  settlement,  in  the  town  of  Mission,  La 
Salle  county,  111.,  not  far  from  Ottawa. 

At  that  time  the  land  had  not  been  surveyed 
into  sections  and  did  not  come  into  the  market 
before  1835.  Those  who  came  with  Kleng 
Peerson  in  1834  were  as  nearly  as  I  can  make 
out:  Endre  Dahl,  Jacob  Anderson  Slogvig, 
Gudmund  Haugaas,  Nels  Thompson,  and  Thor- 
stein  Olson  Bjaadland,  who  had  gone  back  to 
Kendall  from  Michigan.  In  the  summer  of  1894 
I  talked  with  John  Armstrong,  who  was  born 
in  Somerset  county,  Pa.,  May  29, 1810.  He  came 
to  Tazewell  county,  111.,  in  1829,  embracing  at 
that  time  all  the  state  north  to  the  state  line 
until  the  winter  of  1830-1831.  He  took  up  land 
in  what  is  now  Marshall  county,  on  wild  prairie, 
where  he  built  a  blacksmith  shop  and  log  cabin 
which  he  sold  in  1831.  In  1834  he  settled  in 
Mission  township,  where  he  has  since  resided 
and  is  one  of  the  well-to-do  farmers  of  the 
county.  He  is  still  vigorous  both  in  mind  and 
in  body.  Mr.  John  Strawn  Armstrong  in 
formed  me  that  a  couple  of  these  Norwegians 
worked  for  him  on  his  claim  in  the  summer  of 
1834,  and  while  other  writers  have  stated  that 
the  first  Norwegians  did  not  come  to  La  Salle 
county  before  1835,  I  have  sifted  all  the  evi- 


THE  SECOND   SETTLEMENT   IN   AMERICA.      175 

dence  thoroughly  and  am  entirely  convinced 
that  at  least  those  mentioned  above  came  there 
in  1834,  selected  land,  and  waited  for  it  to  come 
into  market  the  following  spring. 

I  have  myself  examined  the  records  at  Ot 
tawa  and  found  that  the  following  named  Nor 
wegians  purchased  land  in  the  towns  of  Mis 
sion,  Miller  and  Rutland  in  1835: 

1.  In  Mission:    June  17,  Kleng  Peerson,  8G 
acres;  June  17,  Carrie  Nelson  (Kari  Hauge,  that 
is,  the  widow  of  Cornelius  Nelson).  Kleng  Peer- 
son  bought  the  land  for  her,  80  acres;  June  25, 
Kleng  Peerson,  80  acres. 

2.  In  Rutland:    June  15,  Jacob  Anderson 
Slogvig,  80  acres;  June  15,  Gudmund  Haugaas, 
160  acres. 

3.  In  Miller:     June  17,  Gjert  Hovland,  160 
acres;  Thorstein  Olson,  80  acres;  June  17,  Thor- 
stein  Olson  bought  80  acres,  which  he  sold  the 
following  September  5  to  Nels  Nelson  Hersdal; 
June  17,  Nels  Thompson,  160  acres;  January 
16,  1836,  Thorstein  Olson  bought  80  acres  more. 
Gjert  Hovland  did  not  come  to  La  Salle  county 
before  1835,  and  we  also  know  that  Nels  Nelson 
Hersdal  came  out  there  without  his  family  in 
1835  and  returned  to  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  the  same 
year,  but  all  the  others  mentioned  as  buying 


176  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

land  in  1835  undoubtedly  came  in  a  body  in 
1834,  guided  thither  by  Kleng  Peerson. 

This  setlement  grew  rapidly  and  gradually 
spread  into  the  adjoining  counties.  The  origi 
nal  settlers  soon  welcomed  many  old  neighbors 
to  the  land  of  their  adoption.  Like  the  Kendall 
settlement  in  New  York,  the  Fox  River  settle 
ment  must  be  credited  to  Kleng  Peerson.  He 
was  a  restless,  roving  spirit,  and  under  favor 
able  circumstances  he  might  have  achieved 
great  fame  as  an  explorer.  He  led  the  way  in 
the  settlement  of  the  Norwegians  on  American 
soil,  and  thousands  of  the  natives  of  Norway 
and  their  descendants  now  occupying  happy 
and  luxurious  homes  in  the  Fox  river  valley 
owe  their  prosperity  and  happiness  in  part  at 
least  to  the  leadership  and  efforts  of  that  re 
markable  man,  Kleng  Peerson. 

When  I  visited  this  settlement  in  the  summer 
of  1894,  I  received  a  royal  welcome  by  the  old 
settlers  who  had  known  my  parents  in  1837  to 
1841,  and  I  am  under  special  obligations,  for 
courtesies  extended,  to  Mr.  J.  A,  Quran  and  his 
family  (his  wife  is  a  niece  of  Nels  Nelson,  Jr., 
the  last  male  survivor  of  the  sloop  people);  to 
Andrew  Gaard,  to  J.  O.  Sebby,  to  Christopher 
Danielson,  to  Mrs.  Hulda  Olson,  who  came  in 
the  sloop;  to  Ole  Thompson  Eie,  who  came  in 


THE  SECOND  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA.      177 

the  ship  "Enigheden"  in  1837;  to  Einar  Ander 
son  Aasen,  who  crossed  the  ocean  in  1836  in  the 
same  ship  with  my  parents;  to  Claes  Claesson 
(a  prosperous  farmer  in  Rutland),  and  to  many 
others  of  the  citizens  there.  I  met  Mrs.  Bower, 
a  daughter  of  Gudmund  Haugaas,  in  Sheridan, 
and  in  Ottawa  1  met  Mrs.  Fellows  and  Mrs. 
Mitchell,  the  two  sisters  who  came  in  the  sloop, 
and  also  Mr.  M.  B.  Mitchell,  the  grandson  of 
Gudmund  Sandsberg,  who  came  to  America  in 
1829.  To  Mr.  M.  B.  Mitchell,  Mr.  Quam,  Mr. 
Gaard,  and  particularly  to  Mr.  Chr.  Danielson, 
I  am  under  obligations  for  many  Valuable  let 
ters  in  regard  to  the  early  immigrants.  In 
church  matters  I  found  that  a  few  were  still 
Quakers,  while  the  largest  number  adhere  to 
the  Lutheran  faith.  A  considerable  number 
are  Methodists,  and  the  Mormons  or  more  prop 
erly,  Latter  Day  Saints,  have  a  church  of  about 
140  members,  Thomas  Haugaas,  a  son  of  Gud 
mund  Haugaas,  being  their  preacher. 

Among  people  who  came  from  Norway  be 
fore  1840  and  settled  in  La  Salle  county,  I  may 
mention  the  following.  To  the  descendants  of 
many  of  them  I  have  written  for  particulars, 
but  as  a  rule  I  have  not  succeeded  in  securing 
the  desired  information. 
12 


178  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Halvor  Knutson  came  to  America  in  1831. 

Hans  Olson  came  in  1839. 

Andrew  Anderson  Aasen  came  in  1836.  He 
is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Knud  Halvorson  came  with  his  parents  from 
Norway  in  1838. 

Knud  T.  Olson  from  Kiskedal,  near  Stavan- 
ger,  came  with  his  father,  Ole  Knudson,  in 
1837. 

Nels  Halvorson  came  with  his  parents,  Hal 
vor  Knudson  and  Betsey  Torgerson,  in  1838. 

Lars  Fruland  came  with  his  father,  Nels  Fru- 
land,  in  1837. 

Ole  T.  Olson  came  in  1836. 

Halvor  Nelson  came  in  1836. 

Thove  Tillotson  came  in  1837. 

Paul  Iverson  came  in  1837. 

Halvor  K.  Halvorson  came  in  1838. 

Hans  O.  Hanson  came  in  1839. 

Osmon  Thomason  came  from  Stavanger  in 
1837.  He  died  in  1876,  92  years  old. 

Torkel  H.  Erikson  came  in  1837. 

Canute  Williamson  came  in  1838. 

Knut  Olson  came  in  1836. 

Lars  Nelson  came  in  1838. 

Henry  Sibley  came  in  1838. 

Michael  Olson  came  in  1839. 

Lars  B.  Olson  came  in  1837. 


KLENG   PEERSON.  179 

I  have  gathered  these  names  from  Baldwin's 
History  of  La  Salle  County,  and  from  other 
sources. 


IX. 

Kleng  Peerson. 

Before  beginning  the  description  of  other 
Norwegian  settlements  I  will  now  consider  once 
more  the  career  of  that  remarkable  man,  Kleng 
Peerson  Hesthammer.  He  was  born  on  a  farm 
called  Hesthammer,  in  Tysver  Parish,  Skjold 
District,  Stavanger  Amt  or  county,  Norway, 
May  17,  1782.  We  have  seen  that  in  his  earlier 
years  he  became  a  dissenter  and  that  he  was 
substantially  a  Quaker,  being  on  particularly 
friendly  terms  with  the  Friends.  He  inspired 
the  organization  of  the  sloop  party  in  1825,  and 
with  the  aid  of  Joseph  Fellows  and  other  Amer 
ican  Quakers,  he  selected  Kendall,  Orleans 
county,  as  the  location  of  the  first  Norwegian 
settlement.  From  1825  to  1833  I  have  no 
knowledge  of  his  whereabouts,  but  I  presume 
he  spent  the  most  of  that  time  in  Kendall  and 
in  Kochester,  N.  Y.  In  1833  we  find  him  in 
company  with  a  Quaker  from  Tysver  (Ingebret 


180  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Larson  Narvig,  who  had  come  from  Norway  to 
Boston  in  1831  and  footed  it  from  there  to  Ken 
dall),  and  another  man  on  his  way  to  the  far 
west.  Ingebret  Larson  Narvig  left  him  and 
went  to  work  for  a  farmer  in  Michigan.  Kleng 
(and  presumably  the  other  man,  whom  I  have 
not  been  able  to  identify)  continued  the  jour 
ney  westward,  until  he  reached  La  Salle  county, 
111.,  and  there  selected  the  location  of  the  second 
Norwegian  settlement.  The  Kendall  and  Fox 
River  settlements  are  his  undying  glory.  But 
as  I  have  repeated  so  often,  he  was  a  restless 
fellow.  While  the  records  show  that  he  bought 
a  considerable  amount  of  land  in  La  Salle 
county,  still  he  did  not  settle  on  it.  He  simply 
purchased  it  for  his  relatives  and  friends.  As 
has  been  shown  in  the  preceding  pages,  many 
of  the  early  settlers  in  La  Salle  county  were 
Kletng  Peerson's  relatives.  He  did  not  care  to 
work.  He  needed  but  little  for  his  support 
and  this  little  he  got  largely  by  visiting  among 
his  relatives  and  friends.  He  was  a  man  of 
strict  integrity  and  any  matter  entrusted  to  him 
would  be  performed  with  scrupulous  honesty. 
He  looked  upon  himself  as  the  pathfinder  and 
father  of  Norwegian  immigration.  At  the 
homes  where  he  visited  he  would  ask  the  house 
wife  for  her  knitting-work  and  request  her  to ; 


KLENG   PEERSON.  181 

make  coffee.  He  would  then  lie  down  on  the 
bed  and  knit  and  drink  coffee  and  talk  about 
his  extensive  travels.  He  was  a  most  excellent 
story-teller  and  consequently  a  welcome  visitor 
everywhere.  In  his  domestic  relations  he  had 
been  unfortunate.  A  veil  is  spread  over  the 
details,  and  all  I  have  been  able  to  find  out  is 
that  he  wTas  married  in  Norway  to  a  woman  by 
name  Catherine,  before  he  went  to  America  in 
1821.  She  was  much  older  than  he,  had  con 
siderable  property,  but  for  some  reason  or  other 
they  did  not  get  on  well.  At  all  events,  he 
abandoned  her  and  Catherine  probably  did  not 
regret  his  departure.  In  1847  we  find  him  in 
the  well-known  Bishop  Hill  colony  in  Henry 
county,  111.,  and  while  there  he  married  a  Swed 
ish  woman  belonging  to  Erik  Janson's  colony. 
Her  name  was  Charlotte  Marie.  I  know  tfiis 
from  Lars  Tallakson,  W7ho  still  lives  in  La  Salle 
county  and  was  in  the  Bishop  Hill  colony  at 
the  time.  Lars  Tallakson  informed  me  that  he 
lent  Kleng  his  hat  for  the  wedding.  It  is  due 
to  Kleng,  however,  to  add  that  he  stated  before 
marrying  Charlotte  Marie  in  1847,  that  his 
first  wife  Catherine,  whom  he  had  left  in  Nor 
way,  was  then  dead.  Charlotte  Marie  died 
from  cholera  in  1849. 
Ingebret  Larson  Narvig  told  a  friend  of  mine 


NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

that  Kleng  was  proud  and  essentially  an  ad 
venturer,  that  he  had  married  a  woman  of 
means,  and  that  he  desired  very  much  to  get 
into  possession  of  her  property.  As  he  did  not 
succeed  he  left  her,  declaring  he  would  get  on 
without  either  her  or  her  property. 

And  while  I  do  not  care  to  suppress  Mr.  Nar- 
vig's  testimony  I  take  pleasure  in  presenting  in 
this  connection  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  recently  received  from  Kleng  Peerson's 
niece,  Mrs.  Bishop  Sarah  A.  Peterson,  of 
Ephraim,  Utah.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the 
slooper,  Cornelius  Nelson,  and  married  Canute 
Peterson  Marsett,  who  came  to  America  in  1837, 
and  who  afterwards  became  bishop  of  Ephraim, 
Utah.  On  February  27,  1895,  Mrs.  Sarah  A. 
Peterson  writes  me:  "My  uncle  Peerson  read 
and  heard  much  of  the  lovely  country  in  the 
west  and  he  resolved  to  go  and  see  for  himself. 
He  came  back  with  such  glowing  descriptions 
that  all  got  the  emigration  fever  and  moved 
west.  Joseph  Fellows  also  owned  land  out 
there.  The  Norwegians  could  get  land  for  f  1.25 
per  acre.  -  There  were  no  forests  to  cut  away 
and  burn  before  plowing  and  putting  in  crops. 
So  when  Kleng  came  back  it  was  not  long  be 
fore  all  were  ready  to  move  west. 

"Uncle  Kleng  sold  my  mother's  and  his  own 


KLENG  PEERSON.  183 

land  in  Kendall.  My  father  being  dead,  uncle 
Kleng  did  all  the  business,  bought  land  for  all 
the  money  and  gave  us  eighty  acres  each.  This 
was  not  all  we  should  have  had,  but  uncle  be 
lieved  in  dividing  the  land  among  the  new 
comers  and  the  poor.  He  never  reserved  an 
acre  for  himself.  He  was  the  most  unselfish 
person  I  ever  saw.  He  was  always  busy  finding 
land  for  the  immigrants,  and  used  all  his  means 
for  the  comforts  of  others.  He  left  his  wife 
Catherine  iii  Norway.  He  went  back  several 
times,  but  she  would  not  come  with  him  to 
America.  So  after  about  twenty-five  years  he 
married  again  a  Swedish  woman  by  name  Char 
lotte  Marie,  and  she  died  from  cholera  in  1849. 
He  was  in  La  Salle  county  when  I  left  my  home 
to  go  to  Utah.  He  felt  very  bad  to  think  I 
should  go  beyond  the  Kocky  mountains  with 
such  bad  people  as  the  Mormons. 
•  "He  spent  all  his  time  in  trying  to  do  good 
(to  the  strangers  that  came,  and  was  always 
colonizing  and  finding  homes  for  orphans.  I 
have  known  him  to  carry  children  on  his  back 
for  miles  to  get  good  places  for  them.  If  he 
got  a  place  for  them  and  they  were  not  treated 
well  he  took  them  away  again.  In  this  way  he 
made  both  friends  and  enemies.  He  was  not 
a  man  that  worked.  He  traveled  and  kept  busy 


184  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

trying  to  do  good  to  others  for  but  very  little 
thanks.  He  was  fond  of  coffee,  but  I  never  saw 
him  knit.  For  my  own  part,  I  shall  always  feel 
thankful  to  him  for  being  the  means  of  getting 
my  parents  to  come  to  this  splendid  country 
and  particularly  for  the  fact  that  I  am  in  Utah. 

"Andrew  Dahl  has  a  son  in  Utah  and  he  has 
a  nice  family.  He  has  two  half-brothers  that 
came  to  America  with  the  second  group  of  im 
migrants.  Their  father's  name  was  S.  Jacob- 
son  Aasen,  and  he  died  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.  Ey- 
stein  Sanderson  Bakke  was  one  that  settled  in 
Beaver  Creek  in  1837.  He  and  his  wife  died 
there,  but  three  of  his  children  came  to  Utah. 
Ellen,  the  oldest  daughter,  came  with  the  pio 
neer  company.  She  was  one  of  the  three 
women  that  crossed  the  Kocky  mountains,  and 
came  into  Salt  Lake  valley  in  1849.  The  others 
cam 3  later.  My  husband,  Canute  Peterson 
Marsett,  came  from  Norway  in  the  same  ship 
with  them  but  settled  in  Beaver  creek.  Thou 
sands  of  Norwegians  are  here  in  Utah  and  have 
been  coming  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
settlement  of  this  territory." 

It  is  said  of  Kleng  that  he  spoke  English 
fluently,  could  read  French,  and  was  able  to 
make  himself  understood  among  the  Germans; 
thus  with  the  Norwegian,  he  had  the  command 


KL.ENG  PEERSON.  185 

of  four  languages.  He  was  a  most  interesting 
talker.  To  the  Americans,  he  was  able  to  de 
scribe  the  landscapes  and  life  of  old  Norway; 
to  his  countrymen,  he  could  give  an  account 
of  soil  and  climate  in  various  parts  of  the  far 
west.  People  gathered  around  him  wherever 
he  came,  to  listen  to  his  reports  and  stories, 
and  when  Kleng  came  to  a  neighborhood,  the 
day  was  usually  turned  into  a  holiday.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  easy  to  understand  that 
he  did  not  need  to  work  and  that  his  few  nec 
essaries  were  supplied  without  his  being  a  men 
dicant,  and  he  was  satisfied  with  very  little. 
He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  what  he 
earned,  when  he  occasionally  did  work,  he  gave 
freely  to  his  countrymen  who  needed  assistance. 
The  next  glimpse  we  get  of  Kleng,  after  he 
had  founded  the  Fox  River  settlement,  is  in 
Shelby  county,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Mis 
souri,  in  the  year  1837.  There  he  also  founded 
a  Norwegian  settlement,  but  it  not  only  did  not 
receive  any  important  accretions,  but  many  of 
the  settlers  left  it  a  few  years  later  and  founded 
another  settlement  called  Sugar  Creek,  in  Lee 
county,  Iowa,  about  seven  or  eight  miles  west 
of  Keokuk.  Kleng  must  have  been  across  the 
Mississippi  before  1837,  because  he  had  already 
selected  the  location  for  the  settlement,  when, 


186  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

in  1837,  in  company  with  Jacob  Anderson  Slog- 
vig,  Anders  Askeland  and  twelve  others,  he 
went  from  La  Salle  county,  to  Missouri,  in 
March,  1837.  Writers  have  complained  that 
Shelby  county  was  badly  chosen,  but  Andrew 
Simonson,  who  was  one  of  the  party,  and  who 
in  October,  1879,  was  still  living,  wrote  in  a 
Norwegian  newspaper,  that  "no  settlement  ever 
founded  by  Norwegians,  in  America,  had  a 
better  appearance  or  better  location,  than  this 
very  land  in  Shelby  county,  of  which  the  Nor 
wegians  took  possession  at  that  time,  and 
which  they  in  part  still  own." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Missouri  was  a 
slave  state,  a  fact  which  was  very  distasteful 
to  the  Norwegians,  and  of  course  Shelby  county 
was  far  from  any  market.  It  being  reported 
that  there  was  good  land  to  be  had  in  Lee 
county,  Iowa,  only  seven  miles  west  of  Keokuk, 
Kleng,  at  the  request  of  Andrew  Simonson  and 
others,  went  there  to  inspect  it,  and  the  result 
was  that  Andrew  Simonson,  born  November  10, 
1810,  and  the  majority  of  the  settlers  in  Shelby 
county,  moved  to  Lee  county,  for  the  sake  of  a 
nearer  market,  but  Mr.  Simonson  maintains 
that  they  did  not  get  as  good  land  as  they  left 
in  Missouri.  At  all  events,  Kleng  became  the 
founder  both  of  the  settlement  in  Shelby 


KLENG   PEERSON.  187 

county,  Missouri,  and  of  that  in  Lee  county, 
Iowa,  the  former  in  1837,  the  latter  in  1840. 
Kleng  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Shelby 
county.  .To  recruit  his  colony  there,  he  went 
to  Norway  in  1838,  and  in  1839  we  find  him 
bringing  back  with  him  a  lot  of  immigrants. 
Kleng  had  done  his  recruiting  in  old  Stavanger 
county,  in  Norway,  and  had  secured  as  emi 
grants,  for  his  Missouri  colony,  a  carpenter,  by 
name  Ole  Keierson,  and  his  family,  three  broth 
ers,  Peter,  William  and  Hans  Tesman,  Nils  Ol 
son  and  six  or  seven  women.  On  arriving  in 
New  York,  he  proceeded  with  them  to  Cleve 
land,  where  he  decided  to  take  them  by  way 
of  the  Ohio  river,  to  Missouri.  But  the  water 
in  the  Ohio  was  low,  and  the  party  suffered 
many  inconveniences  before  they  finally 
reached  their  destination.  Kleng's  reason  for 
going  by  way  of  the  Ohio  river  was  that  the  two 
persons  mentioned  above,  who  came  with  him 
to  Missouri  in  1837,  viz.,  Anders  Askeland  and 
our  well-known  Jacob  Slogvig,  the  slooper, 
had  gone  back  to  La  Salle  county,  dissatisfied, 
and  Kleng  feared  that  if  he  went  by  way  of  the 
Pox  River  settlement,  his  recruits  might  be  pur- 
suaded  not  to  proceed  with  him  to  his  settle 
ment  in  Missouri.  The  brothers  Tesman,  and 
possibly  others  of  this  company,  later  went 


188  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

to  the  Sugar  Creek  settlement  in  Lee  county, 
and  there  we  also  find  Hans  Barlien  dying  at 
an  advanced  age,  in  1842.  Some  have  supposed 
that  the  Sugar  Creek  settlement  was  founded 
by  Hans  Barlien,  and  he  may  have  been  with 
Kleng  in  Shelby  county,  Missouri;  but  the 
statement  I  have  made  in  regard  to  the  found 
ing  of  the  Sugar  Creek  settlement,  is  substan 
tially  correct.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
more  fully  of  Hans  Barlien  later  on. 

In  1842,  Kleng  made  a  third  visit  to  Norway, 
for  what  purpose  I  do  not  know.  Mr.  O.  Ca- 
nuteson,  one  of  the  early  Norwegian  settlers  in 
Texas,  and  now  a  prosperous  business  man  in 
Waco,  Texas,  writes  me  under  date  of  December 
16,  1894,  as  follows:  "I  am  sure  he  (Kleng)  made 
three  trips  to  Norway.  He  came  to  my  father's 
house  (near  Kobbervig,  north  of  Stavanger). 
He  brought  letters  from  America  to  my  father 
and  others.  I  remember  seeing  him  and  I  par 
ticularly  remember  a  peculiarly  made  cloak 
that  he  wore.  He  had  an  atlas  of  the  world, 
and  showed  us  the  maps,  &c.,  and  he  took  occa 
sion  to  express  himself  as  opposed  to  the  power 
the  churches  were  exercising  over  the  people. 
What  started  him  was  that  he  found  pictures 
of  churches  printed  on  the  maps  indicating  that 
the  countries  were  Christian.  I  remember  he 


KLENG  PEERSON.  189 

had  it  in  for  the  Catholics.  My  father  and  I 
transported  him  a  short  distance  in  a  boat,  to 
a  man  that  had  a  son  in  America."  This  was 
probably  in  the  autumn  of  1842,  for  in  May, 
1843,  we  find  him  a  passenger  on  board  the  bark 
"Juno,"  which  sailed  from  Bergen  for  New 
York,  with  80  passengers. 

In  1847,  we  find  Kleng  selling  his  eighty  acres 
of  land  in  Shelby  county,  in  Missouri,  and  join 
ing  the  Swedish  Bishop  Hill  colony,  in  Henry 
county,  Illinois.  The  money  he  got  for  his 
Missouri  farm,  he  contributed  to  Erik  Janson's 
communistic  society.  Here  he  married  a  Swed 
ish  woman,  belonging  to  Erik  Janson's  sect, 
but  he  soon  got  disgusted  with  the  peculiar  life 
in  the  Bishop  Hill  colony,  and  abandoning  both 
his  wife  and  the  colony,  and  as  he  said,  "robbed 
of  all  he  possessed,  and  sick  in  body  and  mind," 
he  went  from  Henry  county,  back  to  his  old 
Fox  Eiver  settlement  and  remained  there  until 
his  health  was  restored. 

At  this  point,  I  am  in  the  dark  in  regard  to 
the  chronology,  but  either  in  1848  or  1849,  he 
must  have  made  his  first  visit  to  Texas.  He 
went  down  there  evidently  at  the  suggestion 
of  John  Nordboe,  who  had  then  lived  several 
years  five  miles  south  of  Dallas.  Kleng  visited 
John  Nordboe,  made  some  explorations  in  vari- 


190  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

ous  parts  of  Texas,  having  been  as  far  west  as 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  present  Fort  Worth, 
and  returned  to  La  Salle  county,  Illlinois,  in 
1850,  full  of  the  Texas  fever.  The  rest  of  his 
life  is  easily  told  in  O.  Canuteson's  letter  to  me, 
dated  December  16,  1894:  "In  1850,  my  father, 
with  his  family,  came  to  my  uncle,  Halvor 
Knudsen,  in  Illinois.  My  mother  had  died  from 
cholera  between  Chicago  and  Ottawa.  In  Ot 
tawa,  we  found  Kleng  Peerson,  just  back  from 
Texas,  and  on  his  advice,  and  on  his  promise  to 
be  our  guide,  we  concluded  to  go  to  Texas.  He 
stayed  with  us  the  three  years  we  lived  in  Dal 
las  county,  and  when  we  moved  to  Bosque 
county  in  1854,  he  came  with  us,  not  as  the 
leader  then,  but  as  a  follower,  being  too  old  to 
undertake  leadership  any  more.  The  last  years 
of  his  life  he  had  his  home  with  O.  Colwick 
(Kjolvig),  but  wrould  of  course,  go  around  among 
his  neighbors,  where  he  was  always  welcome 
and  felt  at  home.*  He  died  December  16, 1865. 
One  of  his  neighbors  and  I  were  with  him  the 
last  hours  of  his  life.  I  closed  his  eyes  in  the 
long  sleep  of  death.  He  was  buried  in  the 

*  In  Texas,  Kleng  Peerson  owned  half  a  section  of  land, 
and  a  few  cows,  and  all  this  property  he  gave  to  O.  Colwick, 
the  latter  agreeing  to  take  care  of  him  the  balance  of  his 
life. 


KLENG  PEERSON.  191 

Lutheran  cemetery  opposite  the  Norwegian 
church  near  Norse  P.  O.  in  Bosque  county,  and 
the  Norwegians  in  Texas  afterwards  put  a 
small  stone  monument  on  his  grave  with  the 
following  inscription  written  both  in  Norwe 
gian  and  in  English: 

'Cleng  Peerson, 
The  first  Norwegian   immigrant 

to 

America. 

Came  to  America  in  1821. 
Born  in  Norway,  Europe,  May  17,  1782, 

Died  in  Texas,  December  16,  1865. 
Grateful  countrymen  in  Texas  erected  this 

monument  to  his  memory.' " 
Mr.  O.  Canuteson  contributed  $15  to  this 
monument,  and  superintended  the  matter  of 
collecting  funds  and  having  it  made.  So  far 
as  I  know,  it  is  the  only  monument  put  up  in 
honor  of  a  Norwegian,  in  America,  by  public 
subscription. 

I  have  stated  that  Kleng  Peerson  was  a  dis 
senter  from  the  church  of  Norway,  and  that  al 
though  he  did  not  personally  join  the  society, 
he  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Quakers,  that  he 
got  help  from  the  Friends  in  Stavanger  for  his 
first  journey  to  America  in  1821,  and  that  he, 
by  the  help  of  Quakers  in  New  York,  not  only 


192  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

selected  Kendall  as  the  place  of  the  first  settle 
ment,  but  also  secured  financial  aid  to  transport 
the  sloop  people  from  New  York  to  Kendall. 
He  also  had  the  help  of  Quakers  in  securing 
land  in  the  second  settlement  in  La  Salle  county, 
111.  While  he  admired  the  Quakers,  he  gradu 
ally  drifted  more  and  more  away  from  all 
churches,  and  the  fact  is  that  before  he  died  he 
had  lost  all  faith  in  the  Christian  religion.  On 
this  point  I  am  able  to  quote  my  friend,  O. 
Canuteson,  who  lived  in  the  same  house  with 
him  for  many  years  in  Texas,  who  was  with  him 
in  his  dying  hours,  and  who  closed  his  eyes  in 
death.  He  says:  "I  was  intimately  ac 
quainted  with  Kleng  Peerson  from  1850  until 
his  death  in  1865.  He  was  the  most  pronounced 
free-thinker  I  have  ever  known.  I  remember 
his  having  an  old  Danish  free-thinking  book 
translated  from  the  German.  He  believed  lit 
tle  or  nothing  of  the  Bible,  especially  of  the 
supernatural  part  thereof.  Whether  he  at  any 
time  had  belonged  to  the  Quakers,  I  can  not  say 
positively,  but  time  and  again  I  heard  him  talk 
about  them  as  models  in  religious  and  temporal 
matters,  and  I  heard  him  talk  about  getting 
assistance,  aid  and  comfort  from  Elias  Tastad 
of  Stavanger,  Norway,  he  being  their  leader  in 
that  city." 


KLENG  PEERSON.  198 

Kleng  Peerson  was  thoroughly  unselfish  in 
his  character,  and  he  devoted  his  life  largely 
to  the  service  of  his  countrymen.  While  he 
never  had  what  might  properly  be  called  a  home 
after  he  left  Norway,  he  spent  his  time  and  his 
scanty  means  in  getting  homes  for  others.  In 
Kendall  and  in  Illinois  he  secured  land  for  his 
relatives  and  friends.  By  his  trade  as  a  car 
penter  he  occasionally  earned  a  few  dollars,  but 
these  he  freely  gave  to  others  who  needed  them. 
When  he  had  nothing  of  his  own  to  give  away 
he  would  beg  from  the  rich  and  give  to  the  poor. 
So  far  as  I  can  make  out,  he  made  the  most 
of  his  extensive  journeys  in  this  country  on  foot. 
On  these  expeditions  he  became  the  founder  of 
the  settlements  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  in  La  Salle 
county,  111.,  in  Shelby  county,  Mo.,  in  Lee  county, 
Iowa,  and  he  finally  guided  one  family  to  Dal 
las  county,  Texas,  although  John  Nordboe, 
Johan  Keinert  Reierson  and  others  had  been  in 
Texas  several  years  before  Kleng  came  there. 

This  is  as  full  and  accurate  account  as  I  am 
able  to  give  of  old  Kleng.  His  great  services 
to  Norwegian  immigration  deserve  to  be  re 
membered  and  appreciated,  and  with  all  his  ec 
centricities  and  shortcomings  his  countrymen 
will  look  upon  him  as  a  benefactor  to  his  race 
and  as  an  honest  and  benevolent  man. 
13 


194  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 


The  Third  Norwegian  Settlement 

The  third  permanent  Norwegian  settlement 
in  America  was  founded  in  Chicago  in  1836. 
Of  course  Norwegians  had  passed  through 
there  in  1834  and  1835  on  their  way  to  La 
Salle  county,  and  Kleng  Peerson  doubtless  was 
there  in  1833.  Halstein  Torrison  and  Johan 
Larson  have  the  honor  of  being  the  first  two 
to  locate  in  this  city.  Halstein  Torrison  came 
from  Fjeldberg  in  Norway  and  settled  in  Chi 
cago  with  his  wife  and  children,  October  16, 
1836.  His  first  house  was  on  Wells  street  on 
the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Chicago  and 
Northwestern  railroad  depot.  He  certainly 
was  the  first  one  to  get  his  own  home  in  this 
city,  where  the  Norwegians  and  their  children 
are  now  numbered  by  the  tens  of  thousands, 
and  where  so  many  Norwegians  have  become 
prominent  as  bankers,  merchants,  importers, 
physicians,  ministers,  lawyers,  and  publishers. 
Johan  Larson  from  Kobbervig  in  Norway 
was  a  sailor,  and  as  such  visited  Chicago  at 
an  earlier  period  from  Buffalo,  but  he  located 


THE  EXODUS  OF   1837.  195 

there  in  1836,  about  the  same  time  as  Halstein 
Torrison.  When  and  how  Torrison  and  Lar 
son  carne  from  Norway,  I  do  not  know.  Torri 
son  left  the  city  in  1848  and  settled  in  Cal 
umet,  south  of  Chicago,  where  he  died  many 
years  ago.  In  1887,  Mr.  Johan  Larson  was 
still  living. 


XL 

The  Exodus  of  1837. 

We  have  now  considered  the  fate  of  the  im 
migrants  of  1836.  We  have  seen  how  the  sec 
ond  Norwegian  settlement  was  founded  in  the 
towns  of  Mission,  Miller  and  Eutland,  La  Salle 
county,  in  1834,  and  how  the  third  Norwegian 
settlement  was  founded  in  Chicago  in 
1836,  and  we  have  described  the  career 
of  Kleng  Peerson  from  his  cradle  to  his 
grave.  We  have  seen  that  letters  from  the 
first  settlers,  and  particularly  those  from  Gjert 
Gregoriuson  Hovland,  were  widely  read  in  Sta- 
vanger  Amt  and  in  Bergen  Stift  in  Norway, 
and  that  Knud  Anderson  Slogvig,  a  slooper,  re 
turned  to  Norway  in  1835.  We  have  seen  what 
a  great  influence  these  letters  had,  and  how 


196  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Knud  Slogvig  became  the  leader  of  the  exodus 
of  1836. 

We  may,  therefore,  now  return  to  the  year 
1837,  when  two  more  ships  brought  Norwegian 
immigrants  direct  to  America.       These  were 
"Enigheden"  from  Stavanger,  and  "^2gir"  (the 
god  of  the  sea  in  Norse  mythology)  from  Ber 
gen.  We  may  look  upon  the  exodus  in  1837  as 
a  continuation  of  that  of  1836,  and  as  produced 
by  the  same  causes.  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  all 
who  decided   to   emigrate   either  did   not   get 
ready  or  did  not  secure  passage  in  1836.     The 
ship  "Enigheden,"  commanded  by  Capt.  Jensen, 
started    from    Egersund,    south  of    Stavanger, 
with  a  few  emigrants  on  board,  and  then  came 
to  Stavanger,  whence  it  sailed  with  ninety -three 
passengers.     The  cost  of  the  passage  to  New 
York,  not  including  board,  was  |31  for  each 
grown  person.     The  passengers  on  board  this 
ship  were  partly  from  the  city  of  Stavanger  and 
partly    from    the    surrounding    country,    from 
Hjelm eland,  Aardal,  Tysver  and  other  parts 
of  Stavanger  county.     They  had  fair  weather, 
and  were  twelve  weeks  on  the  sea.     Among  the 
passengers  on  board  "Enigheden"  were  Knud 
Olson  Eide,    supposed    by  some  to  have   been 
Kleng  Peerson's  companion  to  America  in  1821, 
and  his  family,  Ole  Thompson  Eide  from  the 


THE   EXODUS   OF   1837.  197 

same  farm  in   Norway  as  Knud,  Christopher 
Danielson  and  Hans  Valder  (Vselde). 

In  the  autumn  of  1836  Capt.  Behrens,  who 
owned  the  ship  "^Egir"  which  he  commanded, 
returned  to  Bergen  from  America,  where  he 
had  been  with  a  cargo  of  freight.  Learning 
that  a  considerable  number  of  his  countrymen 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  particularly  from 
Samnanger,  had  sold  their  farms  and  desired 
to  emigrate  to  America,  Capt.  Behrens  decided 
to  change  his  vessel  into  an  emigrant  packet, 
and  made  a  contract  to  carry  these  people  over 
in  1837.  Capt.  Behrens  had  seen  many  Ger 
man  and  English  emigrant  ships  in  New  York, 
and  hence  he  was  well  informed  as  to  what  to 
do  to  make  his  passengers  comfortable  in  every 
respect.  Moreover,  he  had  carried  back  to 
Europe  two  German  ministers  who  were  bound 
for  the  fatherland  to  solicit  subscriptions  for 
churches  they  were  about  to  build,  and  from 
these  ministers  he  had  learned  much  about  the 
German  immigration  by  way  of  Baltimore  to 
Pennsylvania.  On  board  "^Egir"  there  were 
eighty-four  emigrants.  Among  these  we  may 
mention  N.  P.  Langeland,  who  had  been  a 
school  teacher  in  Norway,  Mons  Aadland,  Nils 
Froland,  Anders  Nordvig,  Anders  Kosseland, 
Thomas  Bauge,  Ingebrigt  Brudvig,  Thorbjorn 


198  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Veste,  and  others,  all  of  whom  had  families. 
Among  unmarried  men  Knud  Langeland  men 
tions  by  their  surnames,  only,  Dovig,  Kosseland, 
Bauge,  Froland,  Nordvig,  Hisdal  and  Tosseland. 
On  this  ship  also  came  Ole  Rynning,  a  man  of 
whom  I  shall  give  a  more  full  account  later  on. 
"JEgir"  was  eight  weeks  in  crossing  the  At 
lantic.  In  mid-ocean  it  collided  with  an  Amer 
ican  packet,  but  no  damage  was  done. 

The  immigrants  of  1837  also  intended  to  go 
to  the  Fox  River  settlement,  and  many  of  those 
who  came  in  "Enigheden"  actually  proceeded 
thither  at  once.  But  when  the  passengers  in 
"JEgir"  got  as  far  as  Chicago,  they  heard  un 
favorable  reports  from  La  Salle  county,  and  so 
they  revised  their  plans  and  took  into  consider 
ation  reports  about  good  land  to  be  had  in  Iro- 
quois  county,  about  seventy  miles  south  of  Chi 
cago.  This  led  to  the  unfortunate  Beaver 
Creek  settlement. 


XII. 

The  Beaver  Creek  Settlement 

It  was  in  Chicago  these  immigrants  met  my 
father,  Bjorn  Anderson,  who  had  come  to  that 
city  from  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement.  He  gave 


THE  BEAVER  CREEK  SETTLEMENT.  199 

an  unfavorable  description  of  the  colony  in  La 
Salle  county,  and  would  not  recommend  his 
countrymen  to  go  there.  He  was  entirely 
honest  in  his  statements.  He  did  not  like  the 
Fox  river  country,  and  neither  bought  land 
there  nor  intended  to  make  his  home  there,  and 
we  know  from  what  has  been  said  of  him  that 
he  took  the  first  opportunity  to  look  for  a  new 
place  of  settlement.  But  it  is  a  great  injustice 
to  him  to  blame  him  for  the  misfortunes  of 
those  who  went  to  Iroquois  county.  Bjorn  An 
derson  had  never  been  there,  and  consequently 
he  neither  could  nor  did  recommend  it  to  any 
one  else. 

A  couple  of  Americans  with  whom  Ole  Ryn- 
ining  talked  persuaded  him  to  go  with  his 
friends  to  Beaver  Creek,  which  was  the  name  of 
the  particular  place  in  question.  Others  ad 
vised  against  the  selection  of  this  place,  and  in 
order  to  proceed  as  cautiously  as  possible,  the 
new-comers  decided  to  send  four  of  their  party 
to  Beaver  Creek  to  look  at  the  land  and  the 
country.  The  persons  chosen  for  this  expedition 
were  Ole  Kynning,  Niels  Veste  from  Etne  in 
Norway,  Ingebrigt  Brudvig  and  Ole  Nattestad. 
Mr.  Nattestad,  with  his  brother  Ansten,  had 
just  arrived  by  way  of  Gothenborg  and  Fall 
River,  Mass.,  and  had  joined  the  newcomers  In 


200  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Detroit,  and  had  accompanied  them  to  Chicago. 
The  rest  of  the  company  remained  in  Chicago 
to  await  the  result.  Ole  Nattestad  says  that 
he  did  not  like  the  land,  it  being  sandy  and 
swampy,  but  as  the  others  were  pleased  with  it, 
it  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Nattestad  and  Mr.  Veste 
should  remain  and  put  up  a  log  house  for  the 
reception  of  the  immigrants,  while  Kynning  and 
Brudvig  returned  to  Chicago  to  fetch  their 
friends.  Some  of  those  who  were  left  in  Chi 
cago  had,  in  the  meantime,  gone  with  my  father 
to  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement,  but  the  most  of 
them  went  with  Rynning  and  Brudvig  to 
Beaver  Creek.  There  were  no  settlers  in  the  im 
mediate  vicinity,  and  it  was  difficult  to  procure 
the  common  necessaries  of  life,  although  the 
most  of  these  people  were  well  supplied  with 
money.  Many  of  the  new  settlers  grumbled  and 
were  inclined  to  find  fault  with  Ole  Kynning 
and  the  others  who  were  responsible  for  the  se 
lection  of  this  settlement.  All  chose  land  for 
farms,  and  before  winter  set  in  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  log  huts  had  been  built.  The  number  of 
settlers  here  was  about  fifty.  These  people  were 
well,  and  in  a  measure  happy,  during  the  first 
winter,  but  the  next  spring  the  whole  settle 
ment  was  flooded  and  the  swamp  was  turned 
into  a  veritable  lake.  In  the  summer  the  set- 


THE   BEAVER   CREEK   SETTLEMENT.  201 

tiers  were  attacked  by  malarial  fever.  In  a 
short  time  no  less  than  fourteen  or  fifteen 
deaths  occurred,  and  among  those  who  here 
found  his  last  resting  place  was  Ole  Kynning, 
and,  adds  Mons  Aadland,  "his  death  was  a  great 
loss  to  the  colony."  The  survivors  fled,  leaving 
farms  and  houses  as  there  was  nobody  to  buy 
land  where  a  malarial  atmosphere  threatened 
the  inhabitant  with  almost  certain  destruction. 
The  most  of  those  who  fled  found  their  way  to 
the  Fox  Eiver  settlement,  reaching  there  late  in 
the  summer  of  1838.  Only  a  few  remained  two 
or  three  years,  defying  the  dangers  to  life  and 
health.  The  last  one  to  leave  the  colony  was 
Mons  Aadland,  a  brother  of  the  well-known 
journalist  and  author,  Knud  Langland.  He 
finally  exchanged  his  farm  for  a  small  number 
of  cows  and  oxen,  and  with  these  he  went  to 
Kacine  county,  in  Wisconsin,  where  we  shall 
find  him  later  on. 

Such  was  the  sad  fate  of  the  Beaver  Creek 
enterprise,  and  as  this  settlement  was  wholly 
abandoned  in  1840  we  do  not  count  it  as  one 
of  the  six  settlements,  the  founding  of  which 
we  are  to  describe  in  this  volume.  It  is  grati 
fying  to  know  that  no  other  Norwegian  colony 
in  America  has  had  the  misfortune  of  suffer 
ing  a  similar  calamity. 


202  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

XIIL 
Ole  Rynning. 

Before  discussing  the  formation  of  the  next 
settlement,  I  will  now  describe  the  careers  of 
some  of  the  immigrants  who  came  in  the  year 
1837.  The  most  important  ones  are  unques 
tionably  Ole  Rynning  and  the  two  brothers, 
Ole  Knudson  Nattestad  and  Ansten  Knudson 
Nattestad.  Ole  Kynning  became  particularly 
conspicuous  and  influential  on  account  of  a 
book  which  he  published  in  Christiania,  Nor 
way,  in  1838,  the  title  of  which  is  "Sandfserdig 
Beretning  om  Amerika  til  Oplysning  og  Nytte, 
for  Bonde  og  Menigmand  forfattet  af  en  norsk, 
som  korn  derover  i  Juni  Maaned  1837;"  that  is 
"A  truthful  account  of  America  for  the  instruc 
tion  and  help  of  the  peasant  and  commoner, 
written  by  a  Norwegian,  who  came  there  in  the 
month  of  June,  1837."  The  author's  name  is 
given  at  the  end  of  the  preface,  where  we  read: 
"Illinois,  February  13,  1838.  Ole  Kynning." 

This  little  book  of  only  thirty-nine  pages  is 
now  exceedingly  scarce,  and  for  the  copy  now 
in  my  hands  I  am  indebted  to  Kev.  B.  J.  Muus 
of  Norway,  Goodhue  county,  Minnesota.  Eyn- 


OLE  RYNNING.  203 

ning's  book  was  widely  read  everywhere  in  Nor 
way,  and  was  regarded  as  a  reliable  document. 
It  made  its  lamented  author  one  of  the  chief 
fathers  of  Norwegian  immigration,  second  in 
importance,  I  should  say,  only  to  Kleng  Peer- 
son.  On  account  of  his  valuable  service  through 
his  little  book  I  have  taken  pains  to  gather  the 
facts  of  his  career  as  carefully  as  possible.  The 
Reverend  Bernt  J.  Muus,  mentioned  above,  is 
his  nephew,  Ole  Kynning  being  the  brother  of 
Rev.  Muus'  mother,  and  he  has  kindly  sent  me 
the  following  brief  sketch,  which  may  be  re 
garded  as  entirely  authentic: 

"Ole  Rynning  was  born  on  the  farm  Dusgaard 
in  Ringsaker,  where  his  father  was  at  that 
time  resident  curate,  that  is,  clergyman  em 
ployed  under  the  incumbent,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1809.  His  parents  were  Jens  Rynning  and 
wife,  Severine  Cathrine  Steen.  In  1825  he 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Snaasen  (in  Trond- 
hjem  Stift),  where  his  father  had  been  appointed 
minister  of  the  parish.  Ole  passed  the  matric 
ulation  examination  at  the  university  in  1829, 
and  returned  to  Snaasen,  Christmas  eve,  1833. 
Here  he  kept  a  private  school  for  advanced 
scholars  until  he  emigrated  to  America  on  the 
2d  of  March,  1837,  and  settled  at  Beaver  Creek, 
about  ten  miles  south  of  Lake  Michigan  in  Illi- 


204  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

nois,  North  America.  The  climate  was  very 
unhealthy  and  he  died  here  from  malarial  fever, 
one  year  and  a  half  after  his  landing  in  Amer 
ica.  He  was  not  married.  A  woman,  Mrs. 
Davidson,  at  whose  house  he  made  his  home 
the  most  of  the  time,  related  that  when  Ole  died 
all  the  people  in  the  settlement  were  sick  but 
one.  This  one  went  out  on  the  prairie  and 
chopped  down  an  oak  and  made  a  sort  of  coffin 
of  it.  His  brother  helped  him  to  get  the  dead 
body  into  the  coffin  and  then  they  hauled  it  out 
on  the  prairie  and  buried  it.  Ole  is  said  to 
have  made  a  journey  to  Fox  River  and  to  have 
worked  on  the  canal  there.  Thither,  too,  all* 
the  survivors  at  Beaver  Creek  went  after  Ole 
Rynning's  death." 

In  regard  to  the  cause  of  Ole  Rynn ing's  emi 
gration,  Rev.  B.  J.  Muus  expresses  himself  as 
follows: 

"I  do  not  know  it  (the  cause)  positively,  but 
what  I  have  been  able  to  learn  from  the  family 
is,  that  his  parents,  and  particularly  his  mother, 
desired  that  Ole  should  study  theology.  He 
had  no  taste  for  it.  On  the  other  hand  he  had 
made  a  contract  with  my  father,  who  lived  on 
the  farm  joining  the  parsonage,  to  buy  from 
him  a  large  marsh,  which  he  was  going  to  culti- 

*  Nearly  all,  but  not  all  as  has  been  shown  above.— R.  B.  A. 


OLE  RYNNING.  205 

vate.  He  was  to  have  this  marsh  and  two  small 
farms  belonging  to  cottagers  for  400  dollars 
(Norwegian  money).  As  he  was  unable  to  raise 
this  money  he  went  to  Ajmerica. 

"He  was  fond  of  making  himself  hardy.  He 
did  not,  for  instance,  wear  socks  in  the  winter, 
and  he  would  cut  a  hole  in  the  ice  and  take  a 
bath.  He  trained  his  scholars  in  racing,  bath 
ing,  swimming  and  other  exercises. 

•'I  do  not  kn,ow  the  date  of  his  death  and  do 
not  know  how  to  get  it," 

Mr.  Muus  rejects  the  idea  that  Ole  Rynning 
emigrated  on  account  of  any  dissatisfaction 
with  the  condition  of  things  in  Norway,  and  his 
opinion  must  be  accepted.  We  may  therefore 
say  that  he  came  to  America  to  ameliorate  his 
own  position.  He  left  a  marsh  farm,  which  he 
found  himself  unable  to  pay  for,  and  being  a 
well  informed  man  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he 
looked  for  better  prospects  in  the  western  hem 
isphere.  All  agree  in  describing  Ole  Rynning 
as  a  noble-minded,  philanthropic  man,  and 
Mons  Aadland  said  that  it  was  a  great  loss  to 
the  Beaver  Creek  colony  when -Ole  Rynning 
died. 

It  is  entirely  certain  that  Rynning  had  no 
share  in  promoting  the  exodus  of  1837.  That 
must  be  credited  to  the  sloopers,  to  the  letters 


206  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

written  b;y  Gjert  Hovland  and  to  the  visit  of 
Knud  Anderson  Slogvig.  Bynning  had  seen 
an  advertisement  of  the  proposed  departure 
of  "^Egir"  and  had  corresponded  with  the 
owner  of  the  vessel  and  so  secured  a  pas 
sage.  He  loved  Norway  and  made  no  secret  of 
his  intention  to  visit  his  native  land  again.  Of 
his  devotion  to  Norway  there  is  ample  evidence 
in  a  poem  which  he  wrote  on  board  the  "^Egir," 
and  which  was  sung  at  a  little  celebration  on 
the  4th  of  July.  I  give  this  poem  in  the  origi 
nal  as  the  oldest  piece  of  poetry  extant,  so  far 
as  I  know,  written  by  a  Norwegian  immigrant 
to  America  in  this  century. 

"Nu  ligger  Norges  Klippeland 
Saa  dybt  i  Skjul  bag  sal  ten  Vove, 
Men  Lsengslen  higer  til  den  Strand 
Med  gamle,  dunkle  Egeskove, 
Hvor  Graners  Sus  og  Joklers  Dron 
Er  Harmoni  for  Norges  Son. 
Men  om  end  Skjaebnen  bod  ham  der, 
Som  fordum  Bjorn  af  Leif,  at  tjelde, 
Hans  vil  dog  stedse  have  kjser 
Sit  gode  gamle  Norges  Fjelde, 
Og  laenges  o'mt  med  sonlig  Hu 
At  se  sit  elskte  Hjem  endnu." 

This  poem  shows  that  Eynning  loved  Norway 
with  a  genuine  loyalty.  That  he  gained  the 
confidence  of  his  fellow  travelers  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  four  chosen  to 


OLE   RYNNING.  207 

go  to  Beaver  Creek  to  inspect  the  land  there. 
That  he  also  became  thoroughly  devoted  to 
America  is  fully  demonstrated  by  the  book 
which  he  wrote  while  at  Beaver  Creek  and 
which  was  sold  in  thousands  of  copies  in  Nor 
way.  Ansten  Nattestad,  of  whom  we  shall 
have  more  to  say  presently,  speaks  of  him  in 
the  following  complimentary  terms: 

"When  sickness  and  trouble  visited  the  col 
onists  (at  Beaver  Creek)  he  was  always  ready 
to  comfort  the  sorrowing  and  to  aid  those  in 
distress  so  far  as  it  lay  in  his  power  to  do  so. 
Nothing  could  shake  his  faith  in  the  idea  that 
America  would  become  a  place  of  refuge  for 
the  masses  of  Europe  who  toiled  under  the  bur 
dens  of  poverty.  He  himself  was  contented  with 
little,  and  bore  his  suffering  with  patience.  I 
well  remember  one  time  when  he  returned  from 
a  long  exploring  expedition.  A  heavy  frost 
had  set  in  during  his  absence,  and  the  ice  on 
the  swamps  cut  holes  in  his  boots.  He  finally 
reached  the  colony,  but  his  feet  were  frozen  and 
lacerated.  His  feet  presented  a  terrible  sight 
and  we  all  thought  he  would  be  a  cripple  for 
life.  He  had  to  take  to  his  bed,  and  while  thus 
confined  he  wrote  his  book  about  America,  the 
manuscript  of  which  I  took  with  me  to  Norway 
and  had  it  printed  in  Christiania.  As  soon  as 


208  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

he  had  written  a  chapter  he  read  it  to  me  and 
to  others  and  got  our  opinions  and  criticisms. 
His  feet  got  well  again,  and  he  once  more  took 
up  his  benevolent  work  among  the  colonists. 
But  in  the  fall  of  1838  he  was  taken  sick  and 
died  soon  after,  and  his  death  caused  the 
greatest  sorrow  to  all  of  us." 

Long  after  the  Beaver  Creek  settlement  had 
been  abandoned  by  the  Norwegians,  French 
men,  Germans  and  Americans  made  a  settle 
ment  there.  They  drained  the  marshes  and 
plowed  the  fields  where  the  Norwegians  were 
buried.  I  understand  Beaver  Creek  is  now  a 
prosperous  settlement,  but  there  is  not  a  man 
or  woman  who  can  point  Out  the  grave  of  our 
lamented  Ole  Kynning. 

In  Kynning's  book  I  find  this  preface:  "Dear 
countrymen,  peasants  and  artisans!  I  have 
now  been  in  America  eight  months  and  in  that 
time  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  finding  out 
much  in  regard  to  which  I  in  vain  sought  infor 
mation  before  I  left  Norway.  I  then  felt  how 
disagreeable  it  is  for  those  who  wish  to  emi 
grate  to  America,  to  be  in  want  of  a  reliable 
and  tolerably  complete  account  of  the  country. 
I  also  learned  how  great  is  the  ignorance  of  the 
people,  and  what  false  and  ridiculous  reports 
were  accepted  as  full  truth.  In  this  little  book 


OLE  RYNNING.  209 

it  has,  therefore,  been  my  aim  to  answer  every 
question  which  I  asked  myself,  and  to  clear  up 
every  point  in  regard  to  which  I  observed  that 
people  were  ignorant,  and  to  disprove  false  re 
ports  which  have  come  to  my  ears  partly  before 
I  left  Norway  and  partly  after  my  arrival  here. 

"I  hope,  dear  reader,  that  you  may  not  find 
any  point  in  regard  to  which  you  may  desire 
information,  neglected  or  imperfectly  treated. 

"Illinois,  Feb.  13,  1838." 

The  book  is  divided  into  thirteen  chapters, 
answering  the  following  questions: 

1.  In  what  direction  is  America   situated 
and  how  far  is  it  thither? 

2.  How  did  this  land  become  known? 

3.  What  is  the  nature  of  this  country  and 
what  is  the  reason  why  so  many  people  go  there 
and  expect  to  make  a  living  there? 

4.  Is  it  not  to  be  feared  that  the  land  will 
soon  be  over  populated?     Is  it  true  that  the 
government  there  is  going  to  prohibit  immigra 
tion? 

5.  In  what  part  of  the  land  have  the  Norwe 
gians  settled?    Which  is  the  most  convenient 
and  cheapest  route  to  them? 

6.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  country  where 
the  Norwegians  have  settled?      What  is  the 

14 


210  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

price  of  land?  What  is  the  price  of  cattle  and 
of  the  necessaries  of  life?  How  high  are  the 
wages? 

7.  What  kind  of  religion  is  there  in  Amer 
ica?     Is  there  any  sort  of  order  and  govern 
ment  in  the  land  or  is  everybody  permitted  to 
do  as  he  pleases? 

8.  What  provision  is  there  for  the  education 
of  children  and  for  the  care  of  the  poor? 

9.  What  language  is  spoken  in  America  and 
is  it  difficult  to  learn? 

10.  Is  there  danger  of  disease  in  America? 
Is  there  reason  to  fear  wild  animals  or  the 
Indians? 

11.  What  kind  of  people  should  be  advised 
to  emigrate  to  America?    Advice  against  un 
reasonable  expectations. 

12.  What  dangers  may  be  expected  on  the 
ocean?    Is  it  true  that  those  who  are  taken  to 
America  are  sold  as  slaves? 

13.  Advice    to    those   who    wish  to  go    to 
America.     How  they  are  to  get  a  vessel;  how 
they  are  to  exchange  their  money;  what  season 
and  route  is  the  most  convenient;  what  things 
should  be  taken  along  on  the  journey. 

These  questions  will  be  seen  to  be  to  the 
point  and  they  are  all  answered  in  a  most  in 
telligent  manner.  Some  of  the  questions  may 


OLE  RYNNING.  211 

seem  silly,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  in  those  days 
many  plain  people  in  Norway  believed  that  the 
emigrants  ran  the  risk  of  being  sold  into  slav 
ery  to  the  Turks,  of  being  killed  by  the  In 
dians  or  of  being  devoured  by  horrible  mon 
sters  of  sea  and  land. 

In  the  second  chapter  Kynning  devotes  a 
paragraph  to  the  Norse  discovery  of  America 
in  the  tenth  century  by  Leif  Erikson,  and  he 
appears  to  be  well  up  in  the  literature  of  that 
subject.  What  a  pity  that  his  Beaver  Creek 
settlement  should  have  a  fate  so  much  like  that 
of  the  ancient  Vinland  the  Good!  In  chapter 
five  of  his  book,  where  he  speaks  of  Norwegian 
settlements,  he  describes  the  Beaver  Creek  set 
tlement  as  containing  eleven  or  twelve  fam 
ilies. 

I  would  like  to  translate  Kynning's  whole 
little  book  of  forty  pages,  but  it  would  injure 
the  proportions  of  this  volume.  I  will,  how 
ever,  reproduce  chapter  seven,  in  which  the 
author  discusses  the  religion  and  government 
of  America.  Here  it  is: 

"It  was  a  common  opinion  among  the  lay 
people  in  Norway,  that  there  is  in  America 
nothing  but  pure  heathendom  or  something 
still  worse,  that  there  is  no  religion.  This  is 
not  the  case.  Here  everyone  is  allowed  to  have 


212  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

his  own  faith  and  worship  God  in  the  manner 
that  seems  to  hjm  right,  but  he  must  not  per 
secute  anybody,  because  he  has  another  faith. 
The  government  here  assumes  that  a  compul 
sory  belief  is  no  belief  at  all,  and  that  it  will 
be  most  evident  who  has  religion  or  not,  if  there 
is  perfect  religious  liberty. 

"The  Christian  religion  is  the  prevailing  one 
in  America;  but  on  account  of  the  self-conceit 
and  obstinacy  in  opinion  of  the  teachers  of  re 
ligion  in  little  things,  there  are  a  multitude 
of  sects,  which,  however,  agree  in  the  essen 
tials.  Thus  we  are  here  told  about  Catholics, 
Protestants,  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Presbyteri 
ans,  Baptists,  Quakers,  Methodists,  and  many 
others.  Among  the  Norwegians,  too,  there 
are  various  sects,  but  they  have  no  ministers 
or  churches  as  yet.  Every  man  who  is  some 
what  in  earnest  in  his  profession  has  devotional 
exercises  at  home  in  his  own  house,  or  worships 
together  with  his  neighbors. 

"I  have  already  stated  that  the  United  States 
has  no  king.  Nevertheless  it  has  a  person  who 
exercises  about  as  much  authority  as  a  king. 
This  person  is  chosen  for  four  years  only  and 
is  called  president.  The  legislative  power  in 
matters  pertaining  to  the  United  States  as  a 
unity  rests  with  congress,  which  is  composed 


OLE   RYNN1NG.  213 

of  men  chosen  by  the  various  states.  The 
various  states  have  each  its  own  government 
like  Norway  and  Sweden,  but  the  common  con 
gress,  the  common  language,  and  the  common 
financial  system  unite  them  more  closely.  The 
number  of  the  United  States  is  now  twenty- 
seven. 

"As  a  comfort  to  the  timid,  I  can  truthfully 
assert,  that  here,  as  in  Norway,  there  are  laws, 
governments  and  authority.  But  everything 
is  here  calculated  to  maintain  the  natural 
equality  and  liberty  of  man.  In  regard  to  lib 
erty  everybody  is  free  to  engage  in  any  kind 
of  honest  occupation  and  to  go  wherever  he 
chooses  without  a  passport  and  without  being 
examined  by  custom  house  officers.  Only  the 
real  criminal  is  threatened  with  the  law  and 
punishment. 

"In  works  written  only  for  the  purpose  of 
finding  something  for  which  the  authors  can 
find  fault  with  America,  I  have  read  that  the 
American  is  faithless,  deceitful,  hard-hearted, 
etc.  I  will  not  undertake  to  deny  that  such 
people  are  to  be  found  in  America  as  well  as 
elsewhere,  and  that  the  stranger  never  can  be 
too  prudent;  but  it  has  been  my  experience 
that  the  American  as  a  rule  is  a  better  man 
to  get  on  w^ith  than  the  Norwegian,  more  yield- 


214  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ing,  more  accommodating  and  more  reliable 
in  all  things.  The  oldest  Norwegians  here 
have  given  me  the  same  assurance.  It  being 
so  easy  to  get  a  living  here  in  an  honest  way, 
stealing  and  burglary  are  almost  unheard  of.* 
"In  ugly  contrast  with  the  above  liberty  and 
equality  which  justly  constitute  the  pride  of 
the  Americans,  is  the  disgraceful  slave-traffic, 
which  is  still  tolerated  and  carried  on  in  the 
southern  states.  We  find  here  a  race  of  black 
people,  with  woolly  hair  on  their  heads,  that 
are  called  negroes,  and  that  have  been  brought 
here  from  Africa,  which  is  their  original 
country.  In  the  southern  states  these  poor 
people  are  bought  and  sold  like  other  property 
and  are  driven  to  work  with  a  whip  like  horses 
or  oxen.  If  a  master  whips  his  slave  to  death, 
or  in  his  rage  shoots  him  dead,  he  is  not  looked 
upon  as  a  murderer.  The  children  born  by  a 
negress  are  by  birth  slaves  even  if  a  white  man 
is  the  father.  In  Missouri  the  slave-trade  is 
still  permitted,  but  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin  territory  it  is  strictly  forbidden  and 
the  institution  is  despised.  The  northern 
states  endeavor  at  every  congress  to  get  the 
slave-trade  abolished  in  the  southern  states; 
but  as  the  latter  always  make  resistance,  and 

*  Who  would  dare  to  make  this  statement  in  1895?    R  B.  A. 


OLE  RYNN1NQ.  215 

claim  the  right  to  settle  the  matters  pertain 
ing  to  their  states  themselves,  there  will  prob 
ably  soon  come  either  a  separation  between 
the  northern  and  southern  states  or  bloody 
civil  conflicts." 

As  this  was  written  twenty -two  years  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  Kynning's 
words  are  most  remarkable  and  give  evidence 
of  his  intelligence  and  sagacity. 

Enough  has  been  quoted  to  show  that  Mr. 
Rynning  was  in  full  sympathy  with  American 
institutions  as  he  found  them,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  advise  those  of  his  countrymen  who 
desired  to  better  their  circumstances  to  emi 
grate  to  America.  As  stated  above,  Ansten 
Nattestad  took  the  manuscript  with  him  to 
Norway  and  had  it  printed  there,  but  the 
author  probably  never  saw  a  copy  of  the  book 
which  was  destined  to  have  so  great  influence 
upon  emigration  from  Norway  during  the  fol 
lowing  years. 

Ansten  .Nattestad  also  took  with  him  to  Nor 
way  the  manuscript  of  a  journal  kept  by  his 
brother,  Ole  Nattestad.  This  was  printed  in 
Drarnmen  the  same  year,  1838,  but  it  has  not 
been  my  fortune  to  ever  see  a  copy  of  Natte- 
stad's  book.  In  an  interview  published  on 
page  94  in  Billed  Magazin  (Madison,  Wis., 


216  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

1869),  Mr.  Nattestad  makes  the  following  some 
what  startling  statement: 

"In  the  spring  of  1838  I  went  from  Illinois 
(Beaver  Creek)  by  way  of  New  Orleans  to  Liv 
erpool  in  England,  and  thence  to  Norway,  to 
visit  friends  and  acquaintances  in  my  native 
land.  I  brought  with  me  letters  from  nearly 
all  the  earlier  Norwegian  emigrants  whom  I 
had  met,  and  in  this  way  information  about 
America  was  scattered  far  and  wide  in  Nor 
way.  My  brother's  journal  was  published  in 
Drammen,  and  Ole  Bynning's  work  on  matters 
in  the  new  world  appeared  at  the  same  time 
in  Christiania.  Of  this  book  (that  is,  Ryn- 
ning's)  I  brought  the  manuscript  with  me  from 
America.  The  Kev.  Mr.  Kragh  in  Eidsvold 
read  the  proofs,  and  left  out  the  chapter  about 
the  Norwegian  clergymen  who  therein  were 
accused  of  intolerance  in  religious  matters  and 
of  inactivity  in  questions  concerning  the  bet 
terment  of  the  condition  of  the  people  in  tem 
poral  affairs  and  in  questions  concerning  the 
advancement  of  education." 

I  fully  accept  the  statement  of  Kev.  B.  J. 
Muus  as  final  that  such  considerations  were 
not  among  the  causes  which  led  Ole  Eynning 
to  emigrate,  but  from  what  I  have  quoted  from 
Rynning's  book  it  is  clear  that  he  preferred 


OLE  RYNNING.  217 

American  institutions  to  the  Norwegian  (al 
ways  excepting  the  slavery  institution  in  the 
south),  and  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
above  statement  of  Ansten  Nattestad,  with 
whom  I  was  personally  acquainted  and  whom 
I  knew  to  be  a  man  of  truth  and  veracity, 

I  have  heretofore  shown  that  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Huguenots,  the  Puritans  and  the  followers 
of  William  Penn,  the  early  Norwegians  left 
Norway  to  get  away  from  religious  intoler 
ance  and  persecution.  This  is  certainly  true 
of  the  Quakers,  the  Haugians  and  of  the  dis 
senters  generally.  It  is  impossible  to  point 
out  the  motives  and  causes  in  each  individual 
case,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  find,  if  possible,  the 
motives  that  governed  the  movement  as  a 
whole.  When  we  consider  that  the  sloop  peo 
ple  and  the  emigrants  of  1836  came  from  Sta- 
vanger  county,  where  the  soil  is  poor  and  the 
struggle  for  existence  is  a  severe  one,  it  is  easy 
to  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  the  main  object 
of  the  emigrants  was  to  ameliorate  their  con 
dition  and  prospects  in  the  new  world,  but  on 
a  closer  inspection  we  find  that  a  very  large 
number  of  those  emigrants  were  dissenters 
in  some  form  or  other,  and  when  we  came  to 
talk  with  them  and  also  with  later  emigrants 
we  found  that  religion  and  oppression  on  the 


218  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

part  of  the  office-holding  class  did  have  much 
influence  in  leading  them  to  depart  from  their 
native  country.  As  has  been  well  said  by  a 
writer  in  Scandinavia  in  1884,  "peculiar  re 
ligious  opinions  were  often  one  of  the  motives, 
especially  for  the  leaders;  for  even  if  there 
were  no  direct  persecutions,  there  was  not  full 
liberty  at  home.  For  a  number  of  individuals, 
special  personal  motives  played  a  part." 

Rynning's  book  cleared  away  much  of  the 
ignorance  in  Norway  in  regard  to  America, 
and  it  helped  the  emigrants  to  fight  their  bat 
tles  with  the  higher  classes,  especially  the  offi 
cials  of  church  and  state,  who  were  very  much 
opposed  to  emigration.  I  have  mentioned  the 
expunging  of  the  chapter  on  the  clergy  from 
Ryrming's  book  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kragh  to  em 
phasize  the  fact  that  Ole  Rynning  looked  upon 
the  early  Norwegian  emigration  to  America  in 
the  same  light  as  that  in  which  I  am  con 
stantly  presenting  it. 


OTHER  PIONEERS  OF   Ib37. 

XIV. 
Other  Pioneers  of  1837. 

A  prominent  man  of  those  who  came  to 
America  in  the  ship  "Enigheden"  in  1837  i& 
Hans  Valder  (Vselde)  now  residing  at  New- 
burg,  Minnesota.  He  was  born  on  the  farm 
Vselde  in  Vats  Parish,  Stavanger  Amt,  Nor 
way,  the  18th  of  October,  1813.  His  father 
was  at  that  time  sergeant  in  the  third  Kyfylke 
company,  and  stationed  in  Christiansand.  Hans 
was  educated  as  a  farmer  and  itinerant  school 
master,  and  for  several  years  he  taught  school 
in  his  native  country.  He  told  me  that  he 
taught  school  in  Tysver,  the  parish  whence 
came  Kleng  Peerson  and  several  of  the  sloop 
people.  He  also  met  my  father  in  Norway* 
He  had  a  splendid  opportunity  of  getting  in 
formed  in  regard  to  America  through  letters 
received  from  this  country.  At  the  age  of  24  he 
emigrated  with  his  wife  and  one  child  to 
America.  He  left  the  other  immigrants  at  De 
troit,  and  from  there  went  with  Osten  Espe- 
land,  from  Hjelmeland  in  Norway,  by  rail  to 
Adrian,  Mich.  From  Adrian  they  went  three 
miles  into  the  country  in  Lenawee  county  to 


220  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Ingebret  Larson  Narvig,  the  same  man  who 
had  settled  in  Monroe  county  in  1833  and  who 
was  now  there.  The  Espelands  lived  with 
Mr.  Narvig  for  a  time,  but  later  moved  to  the 
Fox  River  settlement.  Osten  Espeland  is 
dead  years  ago,  but  his  widow  married  again 
and  is  still  living.  Ingebret  Larson  Narvig 
also  had  two  brothers  living  in  this  settlement 
in  Lenawee  county,  and  in  addition  to  those 
mentioned  there  was  only  one  other,  viz., 
Jochum  Hervig.  They  lived  in  a  Quaker  settle 
ment,  and  this  corroborates  my  former  state 
ment  that  Narvig  was  a  Quaker  from  Norway. 
Jochum  Hervig  afterwards  lived  with  a  doctor 
in  Indiana,  and  Mr.  Valder  informs  me  that  lie 
died  there.  As  Engebret  Larson  Narvig  was 
occupying  his  second  home  in  Michigan,  when 
Mr.  Valder  came  there  in  1837,  it  is  Mr.  Val- 
der's  opinion  that  he  had  lived  in  Michigan 
three  or  four  years  and  hence  must  have  im 
migrated  in  1833  or  1834.  The  fact  is,  as  I 
have  already  shown,  that  I.  L.  Narvig  came  to 
America  in  1831,  then  went  west  with  Kleng 
Peerson  in  1833,  and  settled  in  Monroe  county, 
and  a  couple  of  years  later  moved  to  Lenawee 
county. 

The  slooper,  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland,  and 
these  three  brothers  Narvig  were,  so  far  as  I 


OTHEK  PIONEERS   OF   1837.  221 

have  been  able  to  find,  the  first  Norwegians  to 
stop  in  Michigan  where  their  countrymen  now 
number  about  12,000,  not  counting  grandchil 
dren.  The  little  Lenawee  settlement  became 
entirely  Americanized,  and  has  been  well-nigh 
forgotten,  since  it  received  no  Norwegian  ac 
cretions. 

The  following  May,  1838,  Valder  continued 
his  migration  to  Mission,  La  Salle  county, 
where  he  says  he  found  about  fifteen  Norwe 
gian  families  settled.  He  resided  in  Illinois 
until  1853,  when  he  moved  to  Newburg,  Min 
nesota,  and  became  one  of  the  very  first  Nor 
wegian  settlers  of  that  state.  He  writes  me 
that  four  families  came  from  Indian  Creek  and 
four  from  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement  and  lo 
cated  in  Newburg  at  the  same  time.  I  asked 
Mr.  Valder  whether  he  could  inform  me  who 
was  the  first  Norwegian  settler  in  Minnesota, 
but  his  only  answer  was,  that  on  his  way  to 
Newburg  he  found  three  young  men  in  a  log 
cabin  in  Spring  Grove,  viz.,  Hakon  Narveson, 
Kmid  Kjeline  and  Fingar  Fingarson,  and  at 
Blackhammer  near  by  he  found  Torkel 
Rosaaen  and  some  people  from  Sogn,  who  had 
log  shanties  there.  How  long  they  had  lived 
there  he  does  not  know.  Meanwhile  it  ap 
pears  that  Mr.  Tosten  Johnson,  who  still  lives 


222  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

at  Blackhammer,  Houston  county,  and  who 
has  frequently  represented  his  neighbors  in 
both  branches  of  the  legislature  of  Minnesota, 
came  to  the  state  with  his  brother  from  Dane 
county,  Wis.,  in  1852.  This  volume  does  not 
concern  Minnesota,  but  I  mention  this  matter 
in  connection  with  the  life  of  Mr.  Valder,  and 
1852  is  probably  a  safe  year  to  accept  for  the 
first  actual  settlement  of  Norwegians  in  Min 
nesota,  where  they  and  t!;e  children  of  the  first 
generation  now  number  about  200,000. 

Since  Valder  came  to  Newburg  his  occupa 
tion  has  been  farming  and  hotel  keeping.  In 
1871  he  was  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of 
the  state  legislature.  He  has  been  married 
three  times  and  has  sixteen  children,  and  in 
1892  he  had  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
descendants  living  in  six  different  states.  His 
son  has  a  flourishing  normal  and  commercial 
school  in  Decorah,  Iowa.  When  I  visited  Hans 
Valder  in  the  autumn  of  1894  I  found  the  octo 
genarian  well  and  active,  a  fine  specimen  of  a 
pioneer. 

In  the  ship  "Enigheden"  came  also  Christo 
pher  Danielson  from  Aarland  in  Stavanger 
county,  Norway.  He  was  born  in  1780,  and 
came  to  America  with  his  family.  He  went  at 
once  to  Mission  township,  La  Salle  county, 


OTHER  PIONEERS  OF  1837.  223 

where  he  bought  a  farm.  His  first  wife  died 
in  Norway  and  his  second  wife  died  two  or 
three  years  after  their  arrival  in  La  Salle 
county.  Christopher  Danielson  died  of  chol 
era  in  1849.  The  only  child  living  is  Christo 
pher,  who  now  resides  at  Sheridan,  111.,  and 
is  in  prosperous  circumstances.  He  wrs  a 
small  boy  when  he  came  in  "Enigheden,"  and 
is  still  in  the  bloom  of  manhood.  I  am  under 
great  obligations  to  him  for  many  valuable 
letters  concerning  the  early  immigrants. 

Nils  Froland  came  in  "^Egir."  He  was  from 
Bergen  Stift,  and  he  with  his  wife  and  chil 
dren  lived  for  two  years  in  Beaver  Creek,  and 
then  came  on  to  La  Salle  county,  where  they 
lived  one  year  in  Mission  and  then  located  in 
Miller  in  1840,  where  he  died  in  the  spring  of 
1873.  His  son  is  a  substantial  farmer.  On  my 
visit  to  La  Salle  county  in  August,  1894, 1  called 
on  Mr.  Johnson,  a  prosperous  farmer  near  Nor 
way,  who  is  married  to  a  daughter  of  Nils  Fro- 
land.  At  their  house  I  found  Nils  Froland'a 
widow,  Anna,  still  living.  She  was  then  9b 
years  old,  being  born  March  24,  1798,  but  she- 
could  still  remember  my  father  whom  she  met 
in  Chicago  in  1837.  The  old  lady  was  inclined 
to  blame  him  to  some  extent  for  the  misfor 
tunes  of  the  Beaver  Creek  colony. 


224  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

One  of  the  passengers  in  "Enigheden"  was 
Ole  Thompson  (Torbjornson)  Eide,  who  came 
from  the  same  farm  as  Knud  Olson  Eide,  that 
is,  from  the  island  Fogn,  near  Stavanger.  He 
was  born  May  27,  1820.  He  had  only  ten  cents 
left  when  he  reached  La  Salle  county.  He 
~vas  industrious  and  frugal,  and  has  acquired 
a  competency  for  his  old  age.  His  first  wife 
died  and  he  is  now  living  with  his  second  wife, 
whose  name  is  Caroline.  In  the  early  days  of 
the  Fox  Eiver  settlement  he  and  my  father 
husked  corn  together  for  the  Pitzers  in  the 
town  of  Eutland.  His  portrait  appears  in  this 
volume. 

In  connection  with  the  "JSgir,"  N.  P.  Lange- 
land,  a  school  teacher  from  Samnanger,  Nor 
way,  was  mentioned.  When  the  party  got  as 
far  as  Detroit  his  money  had  given  out,  and 
there  were  no  less  than  eight  in  the  family. 
Some  of  his  friends  had  promised  to  help  him 
through  to  Chicago,  but  I  suppose  they  did  not 
have  any  funds  to  spare.  Langeland  conse 
quently  was  obliged  to  stop  in  Detroit.  He 
was  a  competent  carpenter  and  blacksmith, 
and  he  soon  found  a  turner  to  employ  him. 
In  this  way  he  supported  his  family  and  saved 
some  money  which  he  invested  in  a  farm  in 
Lapeer  county,  Michigan.  He  died  in  Michi- 


OTHER  PIONEEKS   OP   1837.  225 

gan  many  years  ago,  but  in  1887  a  son  of  his 
was  living  in  San  Francisco,  California. 

Mons  Aadland  frpm  Sanmanger  came  in  the 
"-Egir."  He  was  a  man  of  some  means,  but  he 
lost  nearly  all  he  had  in  Beaver  Creek.  He 
was  the  last  one  to  abandon  that  marshy  and 
malarial  settlement.  He  went  to  Racine 
county,  Wis.,  in  1840.  He  died  there  many 
years  ago,  but  three  of  his  children  are  still 
living,  two  sons,  Knud  and  Thomas,  who  own 
large  farms  in  Racine  county,  and  a  daughter 
Martha,  who  married  the  Lutheran  minister, 
Eev.  A.  C.  Preus,  who  succeeded  Rev.  Dietrich- 
son  on  Koshkonong  in  Wisconsin,  and  later  re 
turned  to  Norway,  where  he  died.  The  widow, 
Mrs.  Preus,  is  still  living  at  Horten  in  Norway. 
I  shall  discuss  the  Aadland  family  more  fully 
when  I  come  to  Muskego. 

A  brother  of  Mons  Aadland  was  the  well- 
known  and  very  competent  journalist,  Knud 
Langland,  who  came  to  America  in  1843  and 
settled  in  Racine  county.  He  was  born  in 
Samnanger,  Norway,  October  27,  1813,  and 
died  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  February  8,  1888. 
He  edited  for  some  time  "Nordlyset,"  which 
was  published  in  the  Muskego  settlement  (Nor 
way,  Racine  county),  and  which  was  started 
15 


226  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

in  1847,  and  was  the  first  newspaper  pub 
lished  in  the  Norwegian  language  in  this 
country.  The  first  publishers  were  Messrs. 
Even  Heg  and  James  D.  Reymert,  the  lat 
ter  being  the  editor.  In  1849  Knud  Lang- 
land  and  O.  J.  Hatlestad,  the  brother  of  Mrs. 
Langland,  bought  the  paper,  moved  it  to  Ra 
cine,  Wis.,  and  Langeland  became  the  editor. 
Soon  after  they  changed  the  name  to  "Demo- 
kraten,"  but  even  under  its  new  name  it  did 
not  flourish  more  than  about  half  a  year,  when 
it  was  suspended.  Mr.  Langeland  served  a 
term  in  the  Wisconsin  assembly  in  1860,  and 
was  a  presidential  elector  in  1880.  His  great 
reputation  was  won  as  the  first  editor  of 
"Skandinaven,"  which  was  established  in  Chi 
cago  in  1866.  For  many  years  he  conducted 
that  paper  with  signal  ability.  When  he  be 
came  too  old  for  editorial  work  he  retired  to 
his  farm  in  Racine  county,  and  there  produced 
a  volume  in  the  Norwegian  language  on  "The 
Norwegians  in  America."  It  is  a  valuable 
work  and  has  proved  very  serviceable  to  me 
in  connection  with  the  volume  I  now  have  in 
hand.  By  his  death  I  lost  one  of  my  most  in 
timate  friends,  one  to  whom  I  am  greatly  in 
debted  for  many  valuable  favors.  He  sent  his 
book  to  me  in  Copenhagen,  but  when  my  letter 


OTHER  PIONEERS  OF   1837.  227 

of  acknowledgment  reached  his  old  home  he 
was  laid  away  in  the  churchyard.  After  com 
ing  to  America  Knud  Langland  (in  Norwegian, 
Langeland)  married  Miss  Anna,  daughter  of 
Jens  Olson  Hattlestad.  She  was  born  in  the 
Skjold  Parish  in  Norway,  January  12,  1830,  and 
she  is  still  living  with  her  son,  Peter  Langland, 
who  is  a  successful  physician  in  Milwaukee. 
When  I  last  visited  Mrs.  Langland  in  Decem 
ber,  1894,  she  was  as  well  and  bright  and  cheer 
ful  as  ever.  Knud  Langland's  children  now 
living  are  Peter,  the  physician  mentioned 
above,  Frank,  living  in  Milwaukee,  James,  liv 
ing  in  Chicago,  and  Mrs.  Malinda  Briinble,  also 
in  Chicago. 

Knud  Langland's  sister  was  Mrs.  Magda- 
lena  Nordvig,  her  husband's  name  being  the 
Anders  Nordvig  mentioned  above.  Two  of  her 
children  survive  her — Mrs.  Tver  Lawson,  the 
mother  of  Victor  Fremont  Lawson,  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Darnell,  of  Sandwich,  111. 

Among  the  emigrants  of  this  year  (18*37)  1 
find  Thomas  A  Thompson.  He  was  born 
February  3,  1812,  at  Aareg,  Skjold  Par 
ish,  Norway,  and  died  in  Adams  county, 
Iowa,  October  15,  1870.  On  April  1, 
1848,  he  married  Carrie  J.  Melland,  from 
Etne,  and  she  is  still  living  at  Strand, 


228  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Adams  county,  Iowa.  Mr.  Thompson  first  set 
tled  at  Norway,  111.,  where  he  bought  a  farm. 
In  those  early  days  the  settlers  broke  up  only 
small  patches  on  their  land  and  raised  a  little 
wheat  and  garden  truck.  When  the  time  for 
marketing  came,  ten  neighbors  would  some 
times  club  together,  load  one  or  two  wagons, 
hitch  two  or  three  yoke  of  oxen  to  each  wagon, 
and  then  start  for  Chicago  to  sell  their  produce 
and  purchase  as  economically  as  possible  the 
necessaries  of  life.  On  coming  near  Chicago, 
they  would  sometimes  have  to  hitch  five  or 
six  yokes  of  oxen  to  a  single  wagon  in  order 
to  pull  it  through  the  mud,  for  which  Chicago 
was  noted.  In  the  Fox  River  settlement  that 
city  was  then  known  as  "the  Chicago  mire." 
In  course  of  time  home  markets  were  estab 
lished  and  the  overland  trips  to  Chicago  were 
abandoned.  In  1877,  Thomas  A.  Thompson 
moved  to  Adams  county,  Iowa,  where  he  died 
as  stated  above.  He  was  a  Lutheran  when 
he  emigrated,  but  joined  the  Methodist  church 
in  this  country.  Mrs.  Malinda  Nelson,  now 
living  in  Strand,  Adams  county,  Iowa,  came  in 
the  same  ship  ("Enigheden")  with  Thomas  A. 
Thompson.  The  story  of  her  life  throws  a 
flood  of  light  on  the  early  days  of  Norwegian 
immigration;  and  while  it  contains  some  rep- 


OTHER  PIONEERS   OF   1837.  229 

etitions  of  what  I  have  stated  elsewhere,  I  can 
not  help  giving  the  substance  of  her  state 
ments  here.  Her  maiden  name  was  Malinda 
Danielson.  She  was  born  in  Aurdal,  Norway, 
September  29,  1827.  She  emigrated  with 
her  parents.  Her  father's  name  was 
Knud  Danielson,  and  her  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Sara  Olson.  Mrs.  Malinda  Nel 
son  says  the  vessel  "Enigheden"  was  eleven 
weeks  and  three  days  on  the  way  from 
Stavanger  to  New  York.  We  have  already 
made  the  acquaintance  of  many  of  the  pas 
sengers  in  "Enigheden."  Among  them  are 
Hans  Valder,  Ole  Thompson  Eide,  Knud 
Olson  Eide,  Christopher  Danielson  and 
others,  and  we  have  seen  how  they  made 
their  way  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany,  thence 
by  canal  to  Eochester,  N.  Y.,  where  they 
stopped  several  days,  thence  to  Buffalo, 
and  then  on  by  the  lakes  to  Chicago.  As  soon 
as  they  arrived  in  Chicago,  Malinda  Nelson 
says  they  sent  one  man  to  the  Fox  River  set 
tlement  to  engage  some  people  to  take  the  im 
migrants  to  Norway,  111.  Two  men  engaged 
for  that  purpose  were  Helge  Vatname  and 
Samuel  Peersbn,  who  yoked  their  oxen  to  their 
"Hoosier  wagon"  and  started  for  Chicago,  and 
in  about  ten  days'  time  these  newcomers  were 


230  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

thus  brought  "o  their  destination.  It  will  be 
observed  that  in  Helge  Vatname  and  Samuel 
Peerson,  we  have  secured  the  names  of  two 
immigrants  who  came  to  America  before  1837. 
Malinda's  parents  settled  in  the  town  of  Mis 
sion  near  what  is  now  Norway,  111.  They  had 
a  little  money  and  invested  it  in  a  small  farm 
at  |1.25  per  acre.  They  had  not  been  there 
very  long  before  they  received  a  visit  from 
Kleng  Peerson,  and  through  his  influence  Ma- 
linda  secured  a  place  to  work  in  Ottawa,  111. 
Kleng  Peerson,  who  had  secured  the  position 
beforehand,  accompanied  Malinda  to  Ottawa 
and  they  walked  all  the  way,  it  being  about 
fifteen  miles.  I  mention  this  fact  here  as  evi 
dence  of  Kleng  Peerson's  helpfulness  to  his 
countrymen.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note 
that  Malinda  was  only  about  eleven  years  old, 
when  she  had  to  leave  her  parents  and  go  out 
to  earn  her  own  living.  She  continued  to  be 
a  servant  girl  until  she  was  seventeen  years 
old,  that  is  until  1844,  when  she  married  Peter 
Nelson  Ovrabo,  who  had  emigrated  from  Fis- 
ter,  in  Hjelmeland  in  1839.  Hans  Valder 
was  at  that  time,  it  seems,  a  Baptist  preacher 
in  Illinois,  and  he  performed  the  marriage  cere 
mony.  After  they  were  married  they  set 
tled  in  the  town  of  Freedom,  La  Salle  county, 


OTHER  PIONEERS   OF   1837.  231 

111.,  where  they  purchased  a  little  farm.  In 
the  early  days  of  their  married  life  their  finan 
cial  circumstances  were  not  enviable.  They 
had  110  stove,  and  Malinda  did  her  cooking  and 
baking  over  a  hole  in  the  ground.  This  hole 
had  a  stone  wall  around  it  and  over  it  she 
hung  her  kettles  and  prepared  food  for  the 
family,  during  the  first  six  months  of  her 
housekeeping.  In  the  fall  of  1844,  Peter  yoked 
up  his  ox  team  and  he  and  his  young  wife 
drove  in  to  Chicago  and  bought  a  stove. 

In  1849,  we  again  get  the  sad  story  of  the 
cholera.  Malinda's  father,  Knud,  had  died 
in  1838,  and  her  mother  had  married  Chris 
topher  Danielson.  The  cholera  in  1849  car 
ried  off  her  step-father,  her  mother,  two 
brothers  and  a  working  man,  all  of  whom  died 
within  a  few  days  in  one  house.  In  1878, 
Peter  Nelson  and  his  wife  moved  to  Adams 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  died  in  January,  1892. 
Malinda  and  six  of  her  eleven  children  are 
still  living. 

In  1837,  three  families  from  Tin  in  Upper 
Thelemarken,  joined  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement. 
They  did  not  come  either  in  "JSgir"  or  in 
"Enigheden,"  but  went  by  way  of  Skien, 
and  probably  Gothenborg  to  New  York. 
How  they  got  information  about  America  is 


232  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

nowhere  stated,  but  the  fact  that  they  went 
directly  to  the  Fox  Elver  settlement  is  evi 
dence  that  they  had  been  in  communication 
with  the  earlier  emigrants  from  Stavanger. 

One  of  the  leaders  of  this  little  company, 
who  led  the  van  of  the  emigrants  from  Thel- 
emarken,  was  Erik  Gauteson  Midboen.  He 
had  a  large  family  and  settled  in  La  Salle 
county,  but  fortune  does  not  appear  to  have 
smiled  on  him.  He  became  a  Mormon,  and  in 
the  capacity  of  a  Mormon  preacher,  he  made 
a  visit  to  Norway  and  died  soon  after  his  re 
turn  to  America. 

A  second  one  of  the  party,  Thor  Kittelson 
Svirnbil,  who  was  also  the  head  of  a  family 
when  he  left  Norway,  died  as  a  farmer  in  Blue 
Mounds,  Wis. 

The  third  married  man  in  this  company, 
was  John  Nelson  Kue,  who  in  1869  was  living 
on  a  farm  in  Winneshiek  county,  Iowa,  and 
probably  died  there.  An  unmarried  man 
who  joined  these  three  families  of  emigrants, 
was  Torsten  Ingebrigtson  Gulliksrud,  who 
died  years  ago  in  Illinois. 

An  unmarried  brother  of  Erik  Midboen, 
so  far  as  I  can  make  out,  and  one  of  these  emi 
grants  from  Thelemarken  in  1837,  was  Gunder 
Gauteson  Midboen.  He  had  been  a  school 


OTHER  PIONEERS   OF   1837.  233 

teacher  in  the  Tin  Parish  in  Thelemarken,  and 
being  a  moderately  well  educated  man,  it  is 
fair  to  assume  that  he  was  one  of  the  leaders. 
He  lived  in  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement  from  1837 
until  1842,  and  then  moved  to  the  Muskego 
settlement  in  Wisconsin,  where  we  find  him 
living  as  a  prosperous  farmer'  and  owning 
about  200  acres  of  land  in  1869. 

An  anonymous  Thelemarkian  sums  up  the 
causes  of  emigration  from  that  part  of  Norway 
in  the  following  words  addressed  to  Prof. 
Svein  Nilsson:  "You  ask  me  for  the  causes 
of  the  considerable  emigration  from  Thele- 
marken  which  began  in  1837,  and  was  contin 
ued  the  succeeding  years.  In  order  to  answer 
this  question  in  a  satisfactory  manner  it  is, 
in  my  opinion,  necessary  to  go  far  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  when  two  wealthy 
men,  Bernt  Blair  of  Brevig,  and  Didrik  Cap- 
pelen  of  Skien,  became  the  owners  of  vast 
tracts  of  land  in  Upper  Thelemarken. 
Even  a  large  number  of  those  who  were  pre 
sumed  to  own  their  farms  had  sold  their  tim 
ber  and  made  such  contracts  that  they  practi 
cally  were  mere  tenants.  Stock  raising,  the 
most  natural  industry  of  this  part  of  the  coun 
try,  was  neglected.  The  same  is  true  of  agricul 
ture,  and  the  majority  of  the  peasants  had  no 


234  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

other  income  than  the  scant  pay  they  could  get 
for  cutting  timber  and  bringing  it  to  the  mar 
ket.  Thus  many  people  were  dependent  on  a 
couple  of  wealthy  men,  and  when  for  some 
reason  or  other,  logging  was  suspended  there 
was  much  want  and  suffering.  This  was  the 
condition  down  to  the  time  of  the  beginning 
of  emigration,  and  doubtless  for  some  time 
afterwards.  Frequent  lack  otf  employment, 
impoverishment,  debt  and  dissatisfaction  were 
the  visible  manifestations  of  this  condition. 
But  it  was  a  golden  epoch  for  money-lenders, 
attorneys  and  sheriffs.  Then  the  America 
fever  began  to  rage,  and  many  crossed  the  sea 
hoping  to  find  a  spot  of  ground  where  they 
could  live  in  peace  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their 
labors  without  being  annoyed  by  the  thoughts 
of  pay-day,  rents  and  foreclosures. 

"In  Lower  Thelemarken  it  was  the  hard 
work  or  corvie  on  the  estates  of  Mr.  Loven- 
skjold,  which  drove  people  from  the  father 
land,  while  in  the  upper  districts,  it  was  a 
process  of  impoverishment  developed  through 
a  long  period  of  years  and  the  uncertainty  of 
a  living,  which  induced  people  to  emigrate. 
When  the  way  was  opened  many  followed 
without  any  other  motive  than  that  of  joining 
friends  and  relatives  in  America." 


OTHER  PIONEERS  OP   1837.  235 

Hans  Barlien  emigrated  from  Norway  in 
1837.  He  was  born  in  Overhalden,  lived  for  a 
time  in  Trondhjem,  then  in  Chris tiania  and 
then  at  Ovengaarden,  Namsdaleidet,  in  the 
Beitstaden  parish.  He  was  a  representative 
of  the  ideas  of  the  French  revolution  and  had 
many  friends  who  were  called  Barlians.  He 
had  some  literary  talent  and  was  also  a  skill 
ful  mechanic,  and  had  many  admirers,  while 
the  official  class  naturally  opposed  a  man  ad 
vocating  the  doctrines  of  the  French  revolu 
tion.  At  Overgaarden,  Barlien  had  his  own 
press,  and  his  published  utterances  frequently 
involved  him  in  litigation,  but  he  usually 
came  out  acquitted,  owing  to  his  brilliant  de 
fense.  Tired  of  being  persecuted  in  Norway, 
he  resolved  to  emigrate  to  America  in  1837, 
and  from  here  he  carried  on  an  extensive  cor 
respondence  with  his  friends  in  Norway. 
American  institutions  appear  to  have  suited 
him.  In  one  letter  he  wrote:  "Now  at  last  I 
am  able  to  breathe  freely.  Here  no  one  is  per 
secuted  on  account  of  his  religious  belief. 
Every  one  is  permitted  to  worship  God  in  the 
manner  that  agrees  with  his  conscience. 
Pickpockets  or  lawyers,  unscrupulous  credit 
ors,  corrupt  officials  and  vagabonds  have  here 
lost  all  power  to  injure  the  people.  Every 


236  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

occupation  is  free,  and  every  one  reaps  the 
fruits  of  his  industry  and  by  a  wise  legislation 
the  American  citizen  is  secure  against  oppres 
sion.  The  so-called  free  constitution  of  Nor 
way  has  hitherto  served  only  to  oppress  the 
people  with  higher  taxes,  to  increase  the 
emoluments  of  officials,  and  to  promote  Itfxury 
and  idleness.  The  results  of  all  this  will  soon 
appear,  and  such  a  condition  must  necessarily 
lead  to  general  ruin." 

His  letters  were  full  of  hatred  to  Norway. 
They  were  copied  and  read  by  a  large  number 
of  people,  but  there  were  not  many  who  had 
implicit  faith  in  the  reports  of  the  old  agitator, 
and  the  America  fever  did  not  make  its  ap 
pearance  in  that  part  of  Trondhjem  Stift, 
before  some  time  after  Ole  Bynning's  book  had 
been  published. 

Where  Hans  Barlien  spent  his  first  years 
in  America,  I  am  unable  to  say.  I  take  it  that 
he  went  directly  to  the  Fox  Elver  settlement. 
Whether  he  went  to  Shelby  county,  in  Missouri, 
I  do  not  know,  but  I  think  it  very  probable. 
He  became  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  Sugar 
Creek  settlement  near  Keokuk,  Iowa,  and  died 
there  at  an  advanced  age  in  the  year  1842. 

Among  those  who  came  to  America  in  1837, 
we  must  not  forget  Ole  Heier  and  his  wife, 


FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  237 


from  Tin  in  Thelemarken.  They  located  in 
La  Salle  county,  111.,  but  moved  to  Iowa  in 
1868,  where  Ole  Heier,  who  was  born  July  4, 
1812,  died  November  16,  1893.  Ole  Heier  had 
been  a  Haugian  in  Norway,  but  in  this  country 
he  first  became  a  Mormon  and  afterwards  a 
Baptist.  His  name  in  Norway  was  Ole  Olson 
Omdal.  Six  of  his  children  are  living,  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  One  of  his  sons  is 
A.  Hayer,  of  the  firm  Hayer  &  Thompson, 
general  merchandise  in  Leland,  111.  Christian 
Hayer  also  lives  in  Illinois,  while  Ole  and  Ben- 
jamine  reside  in  Iowa. 


XV. 
The  Fourth  Norwegian  Settlement 

The  fourth  Norwegian  settlement  in  Amer 
ica  and  the  first  in  Wisconsin,  was  founded 
by  Ole  Knudson  Nattestad  (changed  in  Amer 
ica  to  Natesta),  who  was  accordingly  the  first 
Norwegian  to  set  foot  on  Wisconsin  soil.  He 
came  to  Clinton,  Kock  county,  Wisconsin, 
July  1,  1838,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the 
so-called  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement,  which 
occupies  the  southeast  corner  of  Rock  county, 


238  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

and  extends  into  Boone  county,  111.  I  have  al 
ready  had  occasion  to  mention  Ole  Knudson 
Nattestad  and  his  brother  Ansten  Knudson 
Nattestad  among  the  promoters  of  Norwegian 
emigration.  They  came  from  VsBgli,  Kolloug 
Parish  in  Numedal  in  1837,  but  were  not  pas 
sengers  either  in  "Enigheden"  or  in  "^Egir." 
They  came  by  way  of  Gothenborg,  and  Fall 
Kiver,  Mass. 

In  1869,  interviews  with  Knud  and  Ansten 
Nattestad  were  written  down  by  Prof.  Svein 
Nilsson  and  published  in  "Billed-Magazin,"  and 
as  their  interviews  shed  a  flood  of  light  upon 
the  beginnings  and  causes  of  emigration 
from  Numedal  and  Thelemarken  in  1837, 
and  the  following  years,  I  take  the  lib 
erty  of  reproducing  the  major  part  of 
them  here.  I  will  first  introduce  Ole  Knud 
son  Nattestad,  who  was  born  in  Vaegli,  Kolloug 
Parish,  Numedal,  December  24,  1807,  and  died 
in  Clinton,  Kock  county,  Wisconsin,  May  28, 
1886.  In  1869,  he  said: 

"As  the  next  oldest  of  three  brothers,  I  did 
not  have  the  right  of  primogeniture  to  my 
father's  farm,  which  according  to  law  and  cus 
tom  would  go  to  the  oldest  son.  My  ambition 
was  to  become  a  farmer,  and  I  hoped  some  day 
to  be  able  to  buy  a  farm  in  my  own  neighbor- 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  239 

hood.  Then  my  brother  entered  the  military 
school  in  Christiania  and  I  was  to  manage  the 
farm  in  his  absence.  I  entered  upon  my  task 
cheerfully,  worked  with  all  my  might,  and  kept 
a  careful  account  of  income  and  disbursements. 
To  my  great  surprise  I  soon  found  out,  that  in 
spite  of  all  my  toil  and  prudence,  I  did  not 
make  much  headway.  When  the  year  was 
ended  I  had  little  or  nothing  left  as  a  reward 
for  my  labor,  and  it  was  clear  to  me  that  it 
would  not  do  to  buy  an  expensive  farm  and 
run  in  debt  for  it.  Farming  did  not  pay  in  the 
locality  where  I  was  born.  I  then  tried  the 
occupation  of  an  itinerant  merchant.  I  could 
earn  a  little  in  this  way,  but  the  laws  were 
against  me  and  I  did  not  like  to  carry  on  a 
business  of  such  a  nature,  that  it  was  neces 
sary  to  keep  my  affairs  secret  from  the  lends- 
inand  (under-sheriff).  Then  I  worked  a  while 
as  a  blacksmith.  This  furnished  me  enough 
to  do,  but  it  was  difficult  to  collect  the  money 
I  earned.  The  law  did  not  permit  me  to  work 
at  my  trade  in  a  city.  Then  (1836)  my  younger 
brother,  Ansten,  and  I  went  across  the  moun 
tains  to  the  western  part  of  Norway  to  buy 
sheep,  which  we  intended  to  sell  again. 
While  we  were  stopping  in  the  vicinity  of 
Stavanger,  we  heard  much  talk  about  a  coun- 


240  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

try   which  v  as  called  America.     This  was  the 
first  time  we  heard  this  word.     We  saw  letters 
written  by   Norwegians   who   were  living   in 
America,  and  we  were  told  that  Knud  Slog- 
vig,    who    many   years    before   that   had    em 
igrated  in  a  sloop  (Restaurationen)  from  Sta- 
vanger  had  lately  visited  his  native  land,  and 
had  given  so  favorable  reports  about  America 
that  about  150  emigrants  from  Stavanger  Amt 
and.  from  Hardanger  had  gone  back  with  him 
and  had  sailed  that  very  summer  (1836)  in  two 
brigs     from     Stavanger     across     the     ocean. 
They  had  gone  in  spite  of  all  sorts  of  threats 
and  warnings  about  slavery,  death   and  dis 
ease.     This   was  the   first  large   exodus   after 
the  emigration  of  the  sloop  party  in  1825.     All 
that  we  here  saw  and  heard  was  so  new,  and 
came  to  us  so  unexpectedly,  that  we  were  not 
at  once  able  to  arrange  all  the  reports  into  a 
systematic  whole  and  thus  get  a  correct  idea 
of  conditions  in  the  new  world.     But  when  I 
spent  the  following  Christmas  with  Even  Nub- 
bru,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Storthing  from 
Sigdal,  we  discussed  the  hard  times  in  my  na 
tive  valley,  and  I  suggested  that  I  might  have 
better  luck  in  some  other  part  of  the  country. 
In  replying,  Even  Nubbru  remarked  that  wher 
ever  I  went  in  the  world,   I  would  nowhere 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  241 

find  a  people  who  had  as  good  laws  as  the 
Americans.  He  had  accidentally  just  had  the 
opportunity  of  reading  something  about  Amer 
ica  in  a  German  newspaper,  and  he  admired 
the  free  institutions  of  America.  This  infor 
mation  had  a  magic  effect  on  me,  as  I  looked 
upon  it  as  an  injustice  that  the  laws  of  Nor 
way  should  forbid  me  to  trade,  and  not  allow 
me  to  get  my  living  by  honest  work  as  a  me 
chanic,  wherever  I  desired  to  locate.  I  had 
confidence  in  the  judgment  of  the  member 
of  the  Storthing  and  I  compared  his  remarks 
with  what  I  had  heard  about  America  in  the 
vicinity  of  Stavanger.  Gradually  I  got  to 
thinking  of  emigration,  and  while  consider 
ing  the  matter  on  my  way  home,  the  idea  ma 
tured  into  a  resolution.  My  brother  Ansteii 
did  not  need  to  be  asked  a  second  time.  He 
was  willing  at  once;  he  approved  of  my  plans, 
and  in  April,  1837,  we  were  ready  for  our  jour 
ney.  When  we  left  home  we  had  together 
about  800  dollars,  Norwegian  money,  but  this 
sum  gradually  grew  less  on  account  of  our  ex 
penses  on  the  way,  and  besides  we  lost  consid 
erable  in  changing  our  money  into  American 
coin.  Ansten  also  paid  the  passage  for  Hal- 
sten  Halvorson  Brsekke-Eiet,  who  now  (1809) 
16 


242  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

resides  in  Dodgeville,  and  is  looked  upon  as  an 
excellent  blacksmith. 

"Our  equipment  consisted  in  the  clothes  we 
wore,  a  pair  of  skees  and  a  knapsack.  People 
looked  at  us  with  wonder  and  intimated  that 
we  must  have  lost  our  senses.  They  sug 
gested  that  we  had  better  hang  ourselves  in 
the  first  tree  in  order  to  avoid  a  worse  fate. 
We  went  on  skees  across  the  mountains  from 
Kolloug  to  Tin,  and  thence  in  a  direct  line 
over  hills  and  through  forests  to  Stavanger, 
where  we  expected  to  get  passage  across  the 
sea.  We  did  not  worry  about  the  roads,  for 
all  three  of  us  were  experts  on  skees  and  our 
baggage  caused  us  no  inconvenience.  In 
Stavanger  we  told  everybody  that  we  were 
going  to  America  and  wanted  to  secure  a  pas 
sage  across  the  sea.  This  open-heartedness 
came  near  spoiling  our  plans.  The  report  of 
the  three  mountaineers  soon  spread  over  the 
whole  city,  and  high  government  officials  came 
to  see  our  passports.  We  were  now  told  that 
the  bailiff's  passport  only  permitted  us  to  go 
to  Stavanger,  while  the  certificate  from  the 
pastor  correctly  stated  that  we  intended  to 
leave  the  country  and  emigrate  to  America. 
We  were  not  posted  in  such  things  and  thought 
our  papers  were  in  order,  especially  as  the 


THE  FOURTH  SETTLEMENT.  243 

documents  we  carried  gave  testimony  that 
we  were  men  of  good  habits  and  Christian  con 
duct.  No  suspicious  remarks  were  made,  but 
in  the  evening  there  came  a  man  who  was  an 
gry  on  account  of  the  wrong  the  officials  were 
going  to  do  us,  and  related  that  it  had  been 
resolved  that  we  were  to  be  arrested  the  fol 
lowing  day  and  then  be  sent  from  lendsman 
to  lendsman  to  our  native  valley,  as  we  in 
tended  to  leave  the  country  without  permis 
sion  being  given  in  the  passport  from  the  bail 
iff.  The  government  here,  he  said,  was  in  a 
bitter  rage  against  all  emigration,  and  we 
could  not  count  on  any  mercy.  On  this  man's 
advice  we  departed  secretly  from  Stavanger 
under  cover  of  night  in  order  to  avoid  the  dan 
ger  that  threatened  us,  and  withouf  attracting 
any  attention,  we  got  to  Tan  anger.  Here  we 
met  a  skipper,  who  with  his  yacht,  loaded  with 
herring,  was  ready  to  sail  to  Gothenborg. 
He  promised  to  take  us  on  board,  but  when 
we  told  him  what  had  happened  to  us  in  Sta 
vanger,  he  became  doubtful.  He  praised  our 
honesty,  and  on  our  assurance  that  we  would 
assume  all  responsibility,  if  he  got  into 
trouble,  he  decided  to  accept  us  as  passengers. 
We  acted  discreetly  while  we  were  ashore,  and 
we  felt  greatly  relieved  when  r:e  finally  got 


244  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

to  sea.  In  Gothenborg  we  had  no  mishaps, 
and  we  secured  passage  in  a  vessel  loaded  with 
Swedish  iron  and  bound  for  Fall  Eiver,  Mass. 
The  journey  lasted  32  days,  and  we  paid  $50 
each  for  transportation  and  board.  From 
Fall  River,  we  went  to  New  York,  where  we 
met  a  few  Norwegians,  who  helped  uu  to  get 
to  Rochester.  Here  we  talked  with  /some  of 
our  countrymen,  who  twelve  years  before  had 
come  in  the  Sloop  from  Stavanger,  and  that 
brought  the  first  Norwegian  immigrants  to 
America.  Rochester  and  vicinity  did  not  meet 
our  expectations  in  regard  to  the  new  world. 
Many  of  the  first  immigrants  had  left  the  first 
settlement  in  Kendall  and  had  gone  west  to 
find  new  homes,  particularly  to  La  Salle 
county,  111.,  near  Ottawa  on  the  Fox  river. 
The  Fox  River  colony  received  a  very  consid 
erable  increment  by  the  great  exodus  from 
Stavanger  in  1836,  that  is,  the  year  before  I 
came  to  America.  The  most  of  these  immi 
grants  had  located  in  that  settlement.  This 
we  learned  in  Rochester,  and  there  we  heard 
for  the  first  time  the  name  Chicago.  We  de 
termined  to  go  west  and  see  what  we  could 
find.  When  we  had  reached  Detroit,  I  was 
walking  in  the  streets  to  look  at  the  town. 
There  I  accidentally  met  a  man,  by  whose 


THE   FOURTH  SETTLEMENT.  245 

clothes  I  could  see  that  he  was  from  the  western 
coast  of  Norway.  I  greeted  the  man  and  he  re 
turned  my  greeting,  and  the  meeting  was  like 
that  of  two  brothers  w^ho  had  not  seen  each 
other  for  years.  He  informed  me  that  he  had 
left  Bergen  some  months  before,  together  with 
about  70  (should  be  84)  passengers,  and  that 
the  whole  company  of  which  the  university 
graduate,  Ole  Kynning,  was  the  leader,  had 
been  waiting  a  week  for  transportation  to  Chi 
cago.  We  were  glad  to  meet  our  countrymen 
and  we  joined  the  party  in  which  there  was  at 
least  one  (Rynning)  who  could  speak  English. 
On  landing  in  Chicago  we  met  Bjorn  Anderson 
Kvelve  from  the  Stavanger  country.  He  had 
come  to  America  the  year  before  (1836),  and 
had  traveled  through  various  parts  of  Illinois, 
but  all  that  he  had  heard  and  seen  had  only 
served  to  make  him  dissatisfied  with  this  side 
of  the  ocean.  Broken  down  in  soul  and  body, 
he  stood  before  us  as  a  victim  of  misery  and 
produced  a  scene  so  terrible  that  it  never  will 
be  blotted  from  my  memory.  'God  bless  and 
comfort  you,7  said  he,  'there  is  neither  work 
nor  land  nor  food  to  be  had,  and  by  all  means 
do  not  go  to  Fox  Kiver;  there  you  will  all  die 
from  malarial  fever.'  These  words  had  a  ter 
rible  effect  on  our  little  flock,  many  of  whom 


246  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

had  already  lost  all  courage.  Like  demons 
from  the  lower  world  all  the  evil  warnings 
about  the  terrors  that  awaited  the  emigrants 
to  America  were  now  called  to  mind,  and  even 
the  bravest  were  as  by  magic  stricken  by  a 
panic  which  bordered  on  insanity.  The 
women  wrung  their  hands  in  despair  and  ut 
tered  terriblr  shrieks  of  woe.  Some  of  the  men 
sat  immovable  like  statues,  with  all  the  marks 
of  profound  despair  in  their  faces,  while  others 
made  threats  against  those  whom  they  re 
garded  as  the  promoters  of  emigration  and 
the  leaders  of  the  party.  But  in  this  critical 
situation,  Ole  Rynning's  greatness  appeared. 
He  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  people  who  were 
ready  for  mutiny;  he  comforted  those  in  de 
spair,  and  gave  advice  to  those  who  doubted 
and  hesitated,  and  reproved  those  who  were 
obstinate.  He  was  not  in  doubt  for  a  moment, 
and  his  equanimity,  courage  and  noble  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  weal  of  others,  had  a  quieting 
influence  on  the  minds  of  all.  The  storm 
abated,  and  the  dissatisfaction  gave  place  to 
an  unanimous  confidence.  A  couple  of  Amer 
icans,  with  whom  Rynning  talked,  advised  him 
to  take  the  immigrants  to  Beaver  Creek  di 
rectly  south  of  Chicago  in  Iroquois  county ." 
It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  story  told  above 


THE  FOURTH  SETTLEMENT.  247 

about  my  father  and  the  succeeding  scene, 
either  Mr.  Ole  Nattestad,  or  the  scribe  Prof. 
Svein  Nilsson,  must  have  been  drawing  some 
what  upon  his  imagination.  The  facts  as  I 
have  them  from  my  mother,  from  Mons  Aad- 
land  and  even  from  Ole  Nattestad  himself,  do 
not  warrant  the  painting  of  so  weird  a  picture. 
All  the  prose  there  is  in  the  romance  is  that 
my  father  met  these  people  in  Chicago  and 
was  unwilling  to  recommend  the  Fox  Kiver 
settlement,  with  which  he  was  not  pleased, 
and  as  is  easily  seen,  he  had  no  hand  in  rec 
ommending  the  immigrants  to  go  to  Beaver 
Creek. 

On  page  234  in  Billed  Magazin,  where  Prof. 
Svein  Nilsson  gives  an  extended  account  of  my 
father  and  mother,  he  again  alludes  to  the 
Beaver  Creek  affair  in  these  words: 

"Ole  Bynning's  company  met  Bjorn  Ander 
son  in  Chicago.  The  unfavorable  description 
he  gave  of  the  land  both  west  and  north  fright 
ened  the  immigrants  from  locating  near  any 
of  the  existing  Norwegian  colonies,  and  this 
resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  Beaver  Creek 
settlement,  whose  sad  story  is  well  known  to 
the  Scandinavian  population  in  the  North 
west.  In  this  connection,  bitter  reproaches 
have  been  directed  against  Bjorn  Anderson, 


248  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

he  being  in  a  great  measure  blamed  for  the 
fatalities  of  Beaver  Creek.  But  it  is  usually 
the  case  that  people  like  to  seek  in  others  the 
cause  of  their  misfortunes.  This  is  true  of  the 
individual  as  well  as  of  corporations  and  soci 
eties,  and  perhaps  still  more  so  in  the  case  of 
the  immigrants  visited  by  adversity.  At  all 
events  it  is  our  conviction,  and  we  owe  to  jus 
tice  the  remark,  that  the  criticism  on  Bjorn 
Anderson  has  been  too  severe,  if  not  utterly 
unfounded." 

I  omit  the  part  of  Ole  Nattestad's  interview 
which  relates  to  the  unfortunate  Beaver  Creek 
episode,  as  I  have  already  given  a  full  account 
of  the  settlement,  and  resume  his  narrative 
with  the  spring  of  1838. 

"In  the  spring  of  1838,  my  brother  Ansten 
went  to  Norway,  and  I  worked  by  the  day  in 
the  northern  part  of  Illinois. 

"The  first  of  July,  1838, 1  came  to  my  present 
home  in  about  the  middle  of  the  town  of  Clin 
ton,  Rock  county,  Wisconsin,  where  I  bought 
land,  and  I  am  consequently  the  first  Norwe 
gian  to  settle  in  this  state.  So  far  as  I  know 
no  other  Norwegian  had  planted  his  feet  on 
Wisconsin  soil  before  me.  For  a  whole  year 
I  saw  no  countryman,  but  lived  alone,  with 
out  friend,  family  or  companion.  Eight  Amer- 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  249 

leans  had  settled  in  the  town  before  me,  but 
they  lived  about  as  isolated  as  I  did.  I  found 
the  soil  very  fertile  and  the  monotony  of  the 
prairie  was  relieved  by  the  small  bunches  of 
trees.  Deer  and  other  game  were  abundant. 
The  horrid  howl  of  the  prairie-wolf  disturbed 
my  sleep,  until  habit  armed  my  ears  against 
annoyances  of  this  sort.  The  following  sum 
mer  (1839)  I  built  a  little  log  hut,  and  in  this 
residence  I  received  in  September  a  number 
of  people  from  my  own  parish  in  Norway. 
They  had  come  as  immigrants  with  my  brother 
Ansten.  The  most  of  these  settled  on  Jef 
ferson  Prairie,  and  in  this  way  the  settlement 
got  a  large  population  in  a  comparatively 
short  time." 

In  1840,  Ole  Nattestad  married  Lena  Hiser, 
who  died  September  15,  1888.  She  left  seven 
children  all  in  good  circumstances  and  well 
educated.  Henry,  the  youngest  son,  now  occu 
pies  the  old  homestead. 

We  now  pass  to  Ansten  Knudson  Nattestad, 
the  brother  of  Ole,  and  will  also  let  him  .ell 
the  story  in  his  own  words  translated  fruii.  cne 
same  source  (Svein  Nilsson  in  Billed  >iaga- 
zin). 

"In  the  spring  of  1838  I  went  by  way  of  New 
Orleans  to  Liverpool  and  thence  to  Norway, 


250  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

to  visit  friends  and  acquaintances  in  my  na 
tive  land." 

The  part  concerning  the  manuscripts  of  his 
brother's  journal  and  Ole  Kynning's  book  has 
already  been  told  (pp.  207-216). 

"I  spent  the  winter  in  Numedal.  The  re 
port  of  my  return  spread  like  wildfire  through 
the  land,  and  an  incredible  number  of  people 
came  to  see  me  and  to  get  news  from  America. 
Many  came  as  far  as  20  Norwegian  (140  Eng 
lish)  miles  to  have  a  talk  with  me.  It  was 
impossible  to  answer  all  the  letters  I  received 
asking  questions  about  the  condition  of  things 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  In  the  spring 
of  1839,  about  100  persons  from  Numedal 
stood  ready  to  go  with  me  across  the  sea. 
Among  these  were  many  farmers  and  heads 
of  families,  all  excepting  the  children,  able- 
bodied  persons  in  their  best  years.  Besides 
these  there  were  a  number  from  Thelemarken 
and  from  Numedal,  who  were  unable  to  join  me, 
as  our  ship  was  full.  We  went  from  Dram- 
men  direct  to  New  York.  It  was  the  first 
time  the  inhabitants  of  Drammen  saw  an 
emigrant  ship.*  Each  person  paid  $33.50  for 
his  passage.  We  were  nine  weeks  on  the  sea, 

*  The  name  of  the  ship  was  "  Emelia  "  and  the  captain's 
name  was  Ankerson. 


THE    FOURTH    SETTLEMENT.  251 

the  passage  was  a  successful  one,  and  there 
was  no  death  on  board.  From  New  York 
we  took  the  common  route  up  the  country. 
In  Milwaukee  we  met  those  from  Tin  in  Thele- 
marken,  and  the  others,  who  were  unable  to 
come  in  our  ship  across  the  sea.*  They  came 
on  board  to  us  and  wanted  us  to  go  with  them 
to  Muskego.  Men  had  been  out  there  to  in 
spect  the  country  and  they  reported  that  the 
grass  was  so  high  that  it  reached  up  to  their 
shoulders,  and  told  of  many  other  glorious 
things.  The  Americans,  too,  used  every  argu 
ment  to  pursuade  us  to  stop  in  Milwaukee.  I 
objected,  and  we  continued  our  journey.  In 
Chicago,  I  learned  that  my  brother  Ole  had 
settled  in  Wisconsin  during  my  absence  in 
Norway.  Some  of  the  party  went  to  the  Fox 
River  settlement,  where  they  had  acquaint 
ances**  while  some  unmarried  persons  found 
employment  in  Chicago  and  vicinity.  The  rest 
of  them,  that  is  to  say,  the  majority  accompan 
ied  me  to  Jefferson  Prairie.  Among  these 
there  were  a  few  who  settled  in  the  town  of 
Eock  Run,  Stephenson  county,  in  the  northern 

*  They  had  gone  to  Skien,  thence  to  Gothenborg,  thence 
to  Boston,  and  had  already  reached  Milwaukee. 

**  Three  families  had  emigrated  from  Thelemsrken  to  LA 
Salle  county,  in  1837— see  p.  232. 


252  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

part  of  Illinois,  about  fifty  miles  west  from 
Jefferson  Prairie,  and  there  they  formed  the 
nucleus  of  a  Norwegian  settlement.  Others 
of  my  company  went  to  Eock  Prairie  (Luther 
Valley),  a  few  miles  west  of  Jefferson  Prairie. 
I  and  the  rest  came  at  once  to  Jefferson  Prairie 
where  we  bought  land  and  began  to  culti- 
rate  it.  Among  those  who  came  here  with 
me  at  that  time  I  will  name  Thore  Helgeson 
Kirkejord,  his  brother  Thorstein,  Erik  Skav- 
lem,  and  the  brothers  Kittel  and  Christopher 
Nyhuus,  all  from  Numedal.  These  are  all 
still  in  the  settlement  and  have  become  thrifty 
farmers." 

Here  follows  a  severe  criticism  of  conditions 
in  Norway,  but  as  it  is  of  the  same  character 
as  that  already  quoted  from  Ole  Nattestad  it 
is  not  necessary  to  repeat  it. 

"In  1840  a  few  came  here  from  Numedal, 
and  from  that  time  the  number  of  the  settlers 
steadily  increased  chiefly  by  new  arrivals  from 
Norway.  The  most  of  those  from  Numedal 
settled  in  the  northern  part  of  the  colony,  for 
we  who  came  after  my  brother,  who  was  here 
before  any  of  us,  bought  land  near  the  place 
where  he  had  built  his  cabin,  and  those  from 
the  same  part  of  Norway  who  came  later  as 
immigrants  and  who  sought  us  out  in  the  far 


THE   FOURTH  SETTLEMENT.  253 

west,  settled  as  our  neighbors.  I  and  the 
first  Numedalians  chose  this  tract  as  our 
home,  and  our  choice  was  made  immediately 
after  our  arrival.  The  same  autumn  (1839) 
a  company  from  Voss  came  to  the  settlement. 
These  Vossings  went  further  south,  and  as  birds 
of  a  feather  usually  flock  together,  so  their 
friends  from  Voss  gradually  settled  near  them. 
Hence  the  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement  may  as 
to  population  be  divided  into  two  districts,  of 
which  the  northern  consists  chiefly  of  Nu 
medalians,  while  the  Vossings  predominate  in 
the  southern  part." 

Thus  was  begun  and  gradually  developed 
the  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement  in  Wisconsin. 
Its  founder  was  Ole  Knudson  Nattestad  on 
July  1,  1838.  I  count  it  as  the  fourth  Norwe 
gian  settlement  in  America  and  the  first  in 
the  state  of  Wisconsin.  The  settlement  em 
braces  the  south  half  of  the  town  of  Clinton, 
which  is  the  southeast  corner  of  Rock  county 
and  extends  across  the  state  line  into  the  town 
of  Manchester  in  Boone  county,  111.  It  was 
stated  that  a  part  of  Ansten  Nattestad's  com 
pany  went  to  Rock  Prairie  the  same  year,  1839. 
The  Rock  Prairie  settlement  consists  properly 
of  the  towns  of  Plymouth,  Newark,  Avon  and 
Spring  Valley  in  the  southwestern  corner  of 


254  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Rock  county,  and  is  usually  mentioned  as  a  dis 
tinct  Norwegian  settlement,  particularly  on  ac 
count  of  its  having  had  from  an  early  period  a 
separate  congregation  and  church.  Besides  the 
Jefferson  and  Rock  Prairie  settlements  are  actu 
ally  separated  from  one  another  by  settlers  of 
other  nationalities,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement  quickly  and 
easily  ramified  int~  all  directions,  and  inas 
much  as  Jefferson  Prairie  and  Rock  Prairie 
are  in  the  same  county  I  have  taken  the  lib 
erty  of  considering  them  as  one.  In  this  first 
settlement  I  also  include  those  families  that 
went  to  Rock  Run  in  Stephenson  county.  In 
those  days  people  might  be  separated  by  many 
miles  and  still  be  considered  neighbors.  The 
Fox  River  settlement  in  La  Salle  county  very 
quickly  extended  branches  into  Kendall,  Lee 
and  other  neighboring  counties,  where  the 
Norwegian  settlements  became  known  under 
separate  names,  but  of  this  fact  I  take  no  note 
in  this  volume.  I  trust  my  friends  and  readers 
at  Rock  Run  and  on  Rock  Prairie  will  not  feel 
slighted  because  I  have  included  them  with 
the  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement.  It  raises 
their  rank.  For,  as  I  have  considered  them, 
they  now  rank  with  the  fourth  settlement  in 
America  and  the  first  in  Wisconsin,  while,  were 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  255 

I  to  treat  them  separately,  they  would  both 
rank  after  the  Muskego  settlement  in  Racine 
county,  Wis. 

Ole  K.  Nattestad  (Natesta)  was  born  Decem 
ber  24,  1807;  died  May  28,  1886.  His  wife  died 
September  15,  1888. 

Ansten  K.  Nattestad  (Natesta)  was  born 
August  26,  1813;  died  April  8,  1889. 

It  was  a  wealthy  man  by  name  Klemet  Sta- 
bek,  who  in  company  with  others,  first  settled 
in  Rock  Run,  111.  From  here  and  Jefferson 
and  Rock  Prairies  the  Norwegians  spread  west 
to  the  Pecatonica  river  and  to  Mineral  Point. 
The  majority  of  the  first  settlers  in  all  these 
places  came  from  Numedal,  and  in  1843, 
while  they  were  visited  by  Johan  Reinert  Rei- 
erson,  about  200  of  them  united  in  addressing 
a  letter  to  Bishop  Sorensen  in  Norway  and  ask 
ing  him  to  send  them  a  capable  and  pious 
young  preacher.  In  this  letter  they  offered  a 
salary  of  $300  a  year,  a  parsonage  with  80 
acres  of  land  attached  and  extra  pay  for  all 
special  services,  baptism,  marriage,  etc.  More 
than  two  hundred  persons  of  both  sexes  signed 
their  names  to  this  agreement. 

I  cannot  leave  the  Jefferson  Prairie  settle 
ment  without  mentioning  some  other  parties 
who  came  there  in  1830. 


256  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Jens  Guldbrandson  Myhre  was  born  in 
Vsegli,  Numedal,  in  1812.  In  April,  1839,  he  and 
his  brother  Gudbrand  emigrated  by  way  of 
Gothenborg  and  carne  in  a  German  vessel  to 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  where  they  arrived 
after  a  voyage  of  six  weeks  and  five  days. 
From  Newport  they  proceeded  to  New  York 
and  thence  to  Chicago,  which  took  two  weeks. 
In  Chicago  they  heard  of  a  man  from  Thele- 
:  inarken,  by  name  Halstein  Halvorson,  who  was 
living  twenty-two  miles  west  of  there.  They' 
set  out  on  foot  and  found  Halstein  working 
for  a  man  by  name  Downing.  Halstein  had 
been  in  America  two  years,  having  arrived  in 
1837.  He  was  of  course  one  of  those  who  had 
left  Thelemarken  in  company  with  Gunder 
and  Erik  Gauteson  Midboen,  Thor  Kittelson 
Svimbil  ami  John  Nelson  Eue.  After  stop 
ping  at  Downing's  u  few  days  Jens  and  Gul- 
brand  Myhre  continued  their  journey  to  Jef 
ferson  Prairie,  where  thoy  soon  found  employ 
ment  at  seventy-five  cents  a  day.  Later  on 
they  went  into  well-digging,  for  which  they 
received  fifty  cents  a  foot. 

At  Christmas,  1839,  Jens  Myhre  married 
Bergit  Nelson  Kalrud,  also  from  Vaegli  in  Nu- 
medal.  She  had  come  from  Norway  the  same 
year  in  the  ship  "Eruelia,"  which  came?  direct 


THE   FOURTH  SETTLEMENT  257 

from  Drammen  to  New  York,  and  which 
was  commanded  by  Capt.  Ankerson.  This  is 
the  vessel  in  which  Ansten  Nattestad  and  his 
company  came  to  America  in  1839.  Mrs. 
Myhre  says  this  ship  was  nine  weeks  on  the 
way  across  the  ocean.  As  there  were  too 
many  passengers  on  board  Capt.  Ankerson  had 
to  resort  to  a  strate^v.  Just  before  arriving 
in  New  York  he  had  some  of  the  passengers 
put  on  sailors'  clothes,  and  in  this  way  he 
avoided  all  trouble  with  the  custom  house  offi 
cers.  Capt.  Ankerson  accompanied  the  im 
migrants  as  far  as  to  Buffalo. 

Gulbrand  Myhre  married  Ambjor  Olson 
from  Vsegli,  Numedal,  in  1840,  and  then  both 
Jens  and  Gulbrand  bought  farms  on  Jefferson 
Prairie.  They  soon  sold  these  farms,  however, 
and  moved  to  Kock  Prairie,  and  after  some 
years  they  also  sold  their  Eock  Prairie  farms 
and  moved  to  Mitchell  county  in  Iowa,  settling 
near  St.  Ansgar,  a  town  founded  by  Rev.  C.  L. 
Clausen,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  something 
later  on.  Jens  and  Gulbrand  Myhre  were 
among  the  first  Norwegian  settlers  in  Mitchell 
county,  and  there  they  became  owners  of  a  con 
siderable  amount  of  land.  Gulbrand's  wife 
died  there  in  1863;  his  only  daughter  died  in 
17 


258  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

1867,  and  he  himself  died  November  15,  1867. 
Their  only  son,  Gilbert  G.  Gilbertson,  now 
lives  a  little  south  of  St.  Ansgar. 

Jens  came  to  St.  Ansgar  July  5,  1861,  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  still  living  on  their 
magnificent  estate  there.  Their  only  daughter 
is  married  to  Mr.  T.  M.  Tollefson,  an  intelli 
gent  and  prosperous  farmer  near  St.  Ansgar, 
while  their  only  son,  Gilbert  J.  Gilbertson,  is 
married,  lives  with  his  parents  and  takes  care 
of  the  farm. 

The  first  Norwegian  settler  on  Rock  Prairie 
was  Gullek  O.  Gravdahl,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  white  man  who  began  to  turn 
the  sod  in  the  Luther  Valley  settlement.  The 
Indians  were  then  his  neighbors,  and  the 
wolves  gave  him  a  free  serenade  every  night. 

Gullek  Olson  Gravdahl  was  born  on  the 
farm  Kjimhus  in  Vsegli,  Numedal,  September 
26,  1802,  and  died  on  Eock  Prairie,  July  17, 
1873.  He  was  the  son  of  a  peasant  in  Norway, 
and  in  1839  he  emigrated  in  company  with 
Ansten  Nattestad.  Coming  to  Jefferson  Prairie, 
he  left  his  family  there  and  with  a  couple 
of  comrades  went  westward  until  they  found 
the  location  which  became  the  nucleus  of  the 
Rock  Prairie  settlement.  At  the  end  of  the 
first  daj^s  travel  they  found  a  place  that 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  259 

stilted  them.  They  lay  down  to  rest  for  the 
night.  Their  bed  was  the  cold  ground  and 
their  covering  was  the  star-spangled  canopy 
of  heaven.  A  large  spreading  oak  stood  sen 
tinel  and  watched  over  those  men  who  were  to 
be  the  first  to  fell  the  slants  of  the  forest  and 
to  begin  the  work  of  civilizing  the  wilderness. 
Soon  Gravdahl  had  his  log-honse  built.  Into 
it  he  moved  his  family  from  Jefferson  Prairie, 
and  he  was  the  first  Norwegian  settler  on  the 
west  side  of  Kock  river,  but  it  did  not  take 
long  before  the  settlement  thus  founded  by 
him  became  one  of  the  most  flourishing  Nor 
wegian  settlements  in  America.  Gullek  Grav 
dahl  prospered  and  became  a  wealthy  farmer. 

A  companion  of  Gullek  O.  Gravdahl  in  the 
ship  "Emelia"  from  Drammen  was  Helleik 
Glaim.  He  stopped  a  year  in  Chicago  and  then 
w  ent  to  Rock  Prairie  in  1840.  After  remaining 
there  about  a  dozen  years  he  removed  to  Fill- 
more  county,  Minnesota,  and  in  1866  he  settled 
at  Hanley  Falls,  Yellow  Medicine  county, 
Minn.  He  is  still  living.  The  restless  viking 
spirit  survives  in  the  Norwegian  immigrants! 

Helleik  Glaim  was  born  on  the  farm  Glaim 
in  Vsegli,  Numedal,  February  15,  1816.  He 
informs  me  that  Klemet  Stabek,  who  settled 


260  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

near  Davis,  TIL,  came  in  the  same  ship  with 
him  in  1839. 

The  first  Norwegian  to  be  buried  in  Eock 
county  or  in  Wisconsin  soil,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  learn,  was  Hans  Gjermundson 
Haugen,  who  came  from  Ysegli  in  Numedal  in 
1840.  His  wife's  name  was  Sigrid  Peders- 
datter  Valle.  Hans  Gjermundson  was  born 
in  1785  and  died  on  Jefferson  Prairie  in  the 
latter  part  of  October,  1840.  Sigrid  was  born 
January  30,  1803,  and  died  in  Beloit,  January 
21,  1885.  They  had  two  sons,  Gunnul  and 
Gjermund.  Gunnel  was  born  in  Vsegli,  April 
28,  1827,  and  died  in  Canby,  Minn.,  January  1, 
1893.  Gjermund  was  born  in  Vsegli,  Septem 
ber  19,  1836,  and  is  still  living  in  Beloit,  Wis. 
Of  Gunnul  it  is  to  be  said  that  he  taught  the 
first  English  school  in  the  town  of  Primrose, 
Wis.,  in  the  winter  of  1849-1850,  that  he  vis 
ited  Pike's  Peak  in  the  year  1854,  and  that  he 
served  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  apparently 
in  a  Wisconsin  regiment. 

Gjermund  was  also  a  soldier  in  the  war.  He 
recruited  a  company  in  Primrose,  Dane  county, 
and  vicinity,  under  Pres.  Lincoln's  call  of  July, 
1864,  was  assigned  to  the  43d  Wis.  Vol..  com 
missioned  as  captain  of  company  "I,"  and  inus- 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  261 

tered  in  the  United  States  service  at  Camp 
Washburn  in  Milwaukee  on  the  16th  of  Sep 
tember,  1864.  He  was  immediately  sent  to 
Johnsonville,  Tenn.,  where  his  company  re 
mained  (after  having  a  fight  with  Gen.  Forest), 
until  the  beginning  of  November,  when  he  was 
ordered  to  Nashville,  but  was  cut  off  by  Gen. 
Hood's  forces  before  reaching  the  city.  He 
therefore  went  back  to  Clarkville  on  the  Cum 
berland  river  below  Nashville.  There  he  re 
mained  until  January  1,  1865,  when  be  was 
sent  down  to  guard  the  railroad  from  Mur- 
freesboro  to  Decherd,  Tenn.  Here  he  and  his 
company  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  he  was  mustered  out  of  service  in  Nash 
ville,  Tenn.,  on  the  26th  of  January,  1865.  In  a 
letter  to  me  dated  March  30,  1895,  Gjermund 
Hanson  (Capt.  Geo.  Jackson)  informs  me  that 
his  father  had  been  in  the  military  service  in 
Norway  for  seven  years,  having  been  mustered 
out  after  the  treaty  of  peace  between  Sweden 
and  Norway  in  1815.  From  Captain  Jackson's 
interesting  letter,  I  make  the  following  ex 
tract  which  throws  some  light  upon  his  com 
ing  to  America  and  on  the  early  settlement 
of  Kock  county. 

"I  will  also  mention  something  about  our 
voyage  from  Norway.  We  embarked  in  a  sail- 


262  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ing  vessel  at  Drammen,  leaving  there  on  the 
17th  of  May,  1840,  touched  at  Gothenborg, 
Sweden,  where  we  took  a  cargo  of  iron,  re 
maining  there  two  weeks;  and  from  there  to 
New  York  it  took  eleven  more  weeks.  From 
New  York  we  came  by  canal  to  Buffalo,  and 
from  there  to  Milwaukee  by  steamer.  At  Mil 
waukee  a  part  of  the  passengers  went  to  Mus- 
kego,  Racine  county,  among  them  the  Heg 
family  and  the  Skofstads  and  a  number  of 
others.  We  all  came  over  on  the  same  vessel. 
I  have  forgotten  the  ship's  name,  but  I  remem 
ber  the  captain's  name  was  Ankerson,  and 
that  he  had  made  one  voyage  the  year  before, 
this  being  his  second,  and  that  he  made  sev 
eral  after  that  to  this  country. 

"In  reply  to  your  inquiry  about  the  Norwe 
gians  who  were  in  Rock  county,  when  we  ar 
rived  here,.  I  would  say,  that  I  believe  there 
were  none  on  Rock  Prairie  or  on  Koshkonong 
at  that  time.  Ole  and  his  brother,  Ansten 
Knudson  Nattestad,  Erik  Guldbrandson  Skav- 
lem,  and  the  two  brothers,  Jens  and  Guldbrand 
Guldbranson  Myhre,  Kittel  and  his  brother 
Kristofer  Nyhuus,  Thore  and  his  brother  Thor- 
stein  Helgeson,  Halvor  Pederson  Haugen,  an 
uncle  of  mine,  are  all  I  can  remember  as  living 
there  at  that  time.  All  these  were  from  Nu- 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  263 

medal,  and  came  there  in  1839,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Ole  Knudson  Nattestad,  who  caine 
to  Jefferson  Prairie  in  1838. 

"By  way  of  explanation  I  will  state  how  we 
came  to  take  the  name  of  Jackson.  Among 
the  passengers  across  the  sea  was  a  man  by 
name  Ludvig.  He  had  spent  some  time  in 
England  and  was  pretty  well  versed  in  the 
English  language.  He  acted  as  interpreter 
for  the  emigrants.  He  told  my  father  that  his 
name,  Hans,  translated  into  English  would 
be  Jack,  and  Hanson,  would  accordingly  be 
Jackson,  and  as  my  name  was  Gjermund  Han 
son,  it  was  turned  into  George  Jackson.  The 
whole  family  adopted  the  name  Jackson. 

"I  may  also  mention  that  the  above  named 
Ludvig  taught  the  first  English  school  ever 
taught  in  Hock  county  among  the  Norwegians 
there.  There  were  no  school  districts  organ 
ized  and  there  were  no  school-houses.  Lud 
vig  taught  in  private  houses,  and  both  the 
grown  people  and  the  children  attended  school." 

Captain  Jackson  also  informs  me  that  in 
1849,  he  with  his  mother  and  brother,  moved 
from  Jefferson  Prairie,  to  Primrose,  Dane 
county.  They  were  preceded  in  Primrose  by 
only  four  Norwegian  families.  Christian 
Hendrikson  had  come  there  in  1846,  from 


264  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Wiota,  in  LaFayette  county,  Salve  Jorclanson, 
Nels  Enerson,  and  Nels  Nelson  Skogen,  canie 
from  Jefferson  Prairie  in  1848.  In  1849  sev 
eral  families  went  to  Primrose  from  Rock 
county,  and  among  them  are  mentioned  Hon. 
Gunnuf  Tollefson,  Knute  Bowerson  and  Ole 
Tollefson. 

As  will  appear  later  on,  Norwegians  had 
actually  settled  on  Koshkonong  at  the  time 
when  Captain  Jackson  and  his  parents  arrived 
at  Jefferson  Prairie  in  1840. 

Before  we  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the 
next  regular  settlement,  we  must  still  men 
tion  one  of  the  pioneers  of  emigration  by  name 
Ole  H.  Aasland.  He  was  a  rich  farmer  in 
Fledsberg  Parish,  Numedal,  and  emigrated  in 
1838.  He  took  with  him  twenty  poor  people, 
for  whom  he  paid  the  expenses,  went  to  Tons- 
berg,  thence  to  Gothenborg,  and  then  to  New 
York.  After  arriving  in  America,  going  first 
to  the  Kendall  settlement,  he  was  induced 
to  buy  600  acres  of  land  in  Noble  county,  Indi 
ana,  not  very  far  from  Ft.  Wayne.  But  he  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  specu 
lators,  who  took  advantage  of  his  ignorance  of 
American  affairs,  and  he  was  badly  swindled. 
The  land  he  bought  was  said  to  be  very  poor 
and  swampy.  Many  of  the  colonists  died. 


THE   FOURTH   SETTLEMENT.  265 

With  the  survivors  he  moved  back  to  Orleans 
county,  N.  Y.,  where  he  became  a  well-to-do 
farmer.  Ole  H.  Aasland  changed  his  name  in 
this  country  to  Ole  H.  Orsland.  Four  of  his 
children  are  still  living,  viz.,  Canute  and 
Harry  B.,  living  in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  Hallock  and 
Jane,  residing  in  Detroit,  Mich.  In  January, 
1895,  I  received  a  letter  from  Canute  Orsland, 
who  now  lives  on  the  old  family  homestead 
in  Kendall,  N.  Y.,  and  from  it  I  take  the  lib 
erty  of  giving  the  following  extract:  "The 
postmaster  handed  me  your  letter,  and  in  re 
ply  would  say  that  I  am  not  competent  to  give 
you  the  desired  information,  but  I  will  do  the 
best  I  can.  There  are  not  many  Norwegians 
left  in  Kendall  now;  some  have  died  and  some 
have  moved  away.  My  father,  Ole  H.  Orsland, 
came  to  America  in  1838.  He  went  to  Ft. 
Wayne,  Indiana,  and  purchased  GOO  acres  of 
land  in  Noble  county.  He  had  paid  the  pas 
sage  of  some  of  his  countrymen,  and  they  were 
to  work  for  him  and  reimburse  him.  It  was 
sickly  there  and  some  of  them  died  and  the 
rest  had  the  fever  and  ague.  My  father, 
therefore,  abandoned  the  land  and  came  back 
to  Kendall  and  gave  his  600  acres  of  Indiana 
land  to  Andrew  J.  Stangeland,  who  was  born 
here,  but  whose  father  came  in  the  sloop  in 


266  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

1825,  for  fifty  acres  of  land,  which  I  now  oc 
cupy."  In  a  letter  dated  at  Kendall,  N.  Y., 
February  27,  1895,  Canute  Orsland  informs  me 
that  Ole  H.  Orsland  (Aasland)  was  born  in 
1795,  and  died  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  69  years. 


XVI. 

The  Fifth  Norwegian  Settlement. 

We  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the 
fiflli  Norwegian  settlement  in  America,  the 
so-called  Muskego  settlement  in  Waukesha 
and  Racine  counties,  Wisconsin.  We  have 
seen  how  three  families  and  a  couple  of  sin 
gle  men  left  Tin  in  Upper  Thelemarken  in 
1837,  and  how  the  Nattestad  brothers,  Ole  and 
Ansten,  and  Halstein  Halvorson  Brsekke-Eiet 
made  up  their  minds  to  emigrate  from  Vssgli 
in  Numedal  the  same  year.  These  two  par 
ties  apparently  entirely  independent  of  each 
other  were  the  first  to  leave  those  parts  of 
Norway  and  settle  in  the  new  world.  Then 
letters  came  back  to  Tin,  and  in  this  man 
ner  information  was  spread  throughout  Thele 
marken  in  regard  to  conditions  in  America, 


THE   FIFiH   SETTLEMENT.  267 

and  many  began  to  talk  about  emigration. 
The  following  year  (1838)  Ansten  Nattestad 
returned  and  spent  a  year  in  Norway,  and 
while  there  he  published  his  brother  Ole's 
book  in  Drammen,  and  Ole  Kynning's  "Ac 
count  of  America"  in  Christiania.  Ansten 
Nattestad  clearly  went  back  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  a  party  of  emigrants.  His  case 
is  similar  to  that  of  Knud  Slogvig,  the  slooper, 
who  returned  to  the  Stavanger  country  in 
1835,  and  caused  the  great  exodus  from  Sta 
vanger  in  1836,  and  Ansten  Nattestad's  return 
to  Numedal  in  1838  created  no  less  excite 
ment  and  wonderment  than  Knud  Slogvig's 
had  caused  in  the  western  part  of  Norway  in 
1835.  People  would  not  have  been  more  as 
tonished,  if  a  man  had  actually  returned  from 
the  moon,  and  the  two  books,  Ole  Nattestad's 
and  Rynning's,  particularly  the  latter,  in 
which  a  scholarly  and  graphic  account  of  con 
ditions  and  prospects  in  the  new  world  were 
presented,  were  quickly  spread  throughout  Nor 
way,  and  from  this  time  on  we  may  regard  reg 
ular  emigration  from  various  parts  of  Norway 
as  fully  established,  though  emigrant  packets 
do  not  appear  to  haye  begun  to  ply  regularly 
until  after  1840.  Down  to  1840,  we  have 
only  the  sloop  "Restaurationen"  in  1825;  the 


268  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

two  Kohler  brigs,  "Norden"  and  "Den  Norske 
Klippe"  from  Stavanger  in  1836;  "Enigkeden" 
from  Egersund  and  Stavanger,  and  "^3gir"  from 
Bergen  in  1837;  and  the  ship  "Emelia"  from 
Drammen,  commanded  by  Captain  Ankerson, 
carrying  Ansten  Nattestad  and  his  party  di 
rect  to  New  York  in  1839.  The  rest  of  the 
emigrants  down  to  1840  seem  to  have  gone 
by  the  way  of  Gothenborg,  Hamburg  and 
Havre,  as  did  many  after  1840. 

The  people  whom  we  are  now  to  mention 
intended  to  come  writh  Ansten  Nattestad  and 
Captain  Ankerson  in  the  ^Enielia"  but  there 
were  no  accommodations  to  be  had.  The  ves 
sel  was  loaded.  The  result  was  that  the  over 
flow  wrent  to  Skien.  The  party  who  went  to 
Skien  consisted  of  about  forty  persons  from 
Tin  and  the  neighboring  parish  Hjertdal  in 
Upper  Thelemarken.  These  forty  people 
were  extensively  connected  by  family  ties, 
and  the  Luraas  family  were  represented  by 
four  heads  of  families  embracing  about  half 
of  the  company.  There  were  eleven  families  in 
all,  eight  of  them,  including  the  Luraas  fam 
ilies,  being  from  Tin  and  three  from  Hjertdal. 
There  were  also  a  few  unmarried  people  in 
the  party.  The  most  conspicuous  among  these 
people  from  Thelemarken  was  John  Nelson 


THE   FIFTH  SETTLEMENT.  269 

Luraas,  a  man  who,  until  very  recently,  was 
still  living  as  a  prosperous  farmer  near 
Stoughton,  Wis.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to 
give  the  rest  of  the  story  as  he  told  it  to  Prof. 
Svein  Nilsson.  He  says: 

"I  was  my  father's  oldest  son,  and  conse 
quently  heir  to  the  Luraas  farm.  It  was  re 
garded  as  one  of  the  best  in  that  neighbor 
hood,  but  there  was  a  f  1,400  mortgage  on  it. 
I  had  worked  for  my  father  until  I  was 
twenty-five  years  old,  and  had  had  no  oppor 
tunity  of  getting  money.  It  was  plain  to  me, 
that  I  would  have  a  hard  time  of  it,  if  I  should 
take  the  farm  with  the  debt  resting  on  it,  pay 
a  reasonable  amount  to  my  brothers  and  sis 
ters  and  assume  the  care  of  my  aged  father.  I 
saw  to  my  horror  how  one  farm  after  the  other 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  lendsmand  and  other 
money-lenders,  and  this  increased  my  dread 
of  attempting  farming.  But  I  got  married 
and  had  to  do  something.  Then  it  occurred 
to  me  that  the  best  thing  might  be  to  emigrate 
to  America.  I  was  encouraged  in  this  pur 
pose  by  letters  from  Norwegian  settlers  in  Illi 
nois,  written  by  a  Norwegian  emigrant  who 
had  lived  two  years  in  America.  Such  were 
the  causes  that  led  me  to  emigrate,  and  I  pre- 


270  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

sume  the  rest  of  our  company  were  actuated 
by  similar  motives. 

"On  May  17,  Norway's  day  of  liberty,  in  the 
year  1839,  the  ship  left  Skien  and  glided  be 
fore  a  stiff  breeze  out  of  the  Langesund  fjord, 
and  soon  the  great  sea  was  in  sight.  We  soon 
got  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  when  the  last 
mountain  tops  disappeared  from  above  the 
horizon,  some  of  the  passengers  doubtless  felt 
sad  at  heart  while  thinking  of  their  uncertain 
future  and  of  the  probability  that  they  would 
never  again  see  that  home  from  which  they 
had  taken  with  them  so  many  dear  memories. 
But  the  decisive  step  had  been  taken,  and 
doubt  and  hesitation  would  now  be  out  of 
place.  We  continued  to  make  progress,  and 
after  a  few  days  of  fine  sailing,  the  Norwegian 
captain  landed  the  passengers  in  Gothenborg, 
Sweden,  which  was  his  destination.  Here 
we  met  a  few  families  from  Stavanger,  about 
twenty  persons  in  all,  who  were  also  bound 
for  America.  Both  parties  united,  and  an 
American  captain,  whose  vessel  was  lying  in 
the  harbor  and  loaded  with  iron,  agreed  to 
carry  the  emigrants  across  the  sea  to  Boston 
for  a  fare  of  forty-two  dollars,  Norwegian 
money,  for  each  person.  There  was  no  acci- 


THE  FIFTH  SETTLEMENT.  271 

dent  on  the  way,  the  health  of  the  passengers 
was  good,  and  after  nine  weeks  we  saw  land 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean." 

From  Boston  these  immigrants  proceeded 
to  New  York  and  thence  to  Buffalo.  In  Buf 
falo  they  met  a  captain  who  agreed  to  carry 
the  immigrants  by  way  of  the  lakes  to  Mil 
waukee.  They  went  on  board  his  miserable 
vessel,  which  twice  came  near  being  wrecked 
on  the  way.  A  woman  was  washed  overboard, 
and  after  three  weeks  they  reached  Milwau 
kee.  Here  there  was  some  talk  among  the 
officials  of  bringing  suit  against  the  captain, 
who  was  reproached  in  severe  terms  for  taking 
so  many  people  on  board  a  ship  that  leaked 
like  a  sieve  and  could  scarcely  hold  together. 
When  we  consider  that  this  ship  was  loaded 
with  powder,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
passengers  had  been  in  no  enviable  position. 

It  was  seventeen  weeks  since  they  left  Skien 
in  Norway,  and  still  they  were  far  from  their 
journey's  end.  They  intended  to  go  by  way  of 
Chicago  to  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement  in  Illi 
nois.  But  this  plan  was  abandoned,  and  our 
new-comers  were  persuaded  to  remain  in  Wis 
consin.  In  regard  to  this  change  of  purpose  a 
strange  little  story  is  current.  I  give  it  fop 
what  it  is  worth,  partly  to  relieve  somewhat 


272  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

the  dullness  of  my  pages  and  partly  because 
it  is  believed  by  many  people.  While  I  do  not 
care  to  discredit  it,  I  have  not,  on  the  other 
hand,  been  able  to  get  any  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  episode  ever  occurred.  Here  it  is: 

The  day  after  our   immigrants  had    arrived 
in  Milwaukee,  they  were  getting  ready  to  de 
part  for  Chicago.     Then  some  Milwaukee  peo 
ple  came  on  board  the  vessel.     They  asked  the 
new-comers  what  they  intended  to  do  in  Amer 
ica.     The  answer  came,  that  they  were  farmers 
and  desired  to  buy  land,  and  were  thinking  of 
going  to  Illinois.     "Go  where  you  like,"  said 
one  of  the  visitors.     "This  is  a  free  country, 
but  if  you  want  to  do  that  which  is  best  for 
yourselves,   then   take   my   advice."     Then   he 
presented  two  persons,    one  of  whom    was  a 
large  fat  man,  the  picture  of  health,  while  the 
other  was  a  mere  skeleton,  all  emaciated  from 
disease.     "Look  here,"  said  the  Milwaukeean, 
"this  fat  man  is  from  Wisconsin,  where  there 
is  a  healthy  climate  and  an  abundance  of  food; 
this  invalid  is  from  Illinois,  where  people  are 
burnt  up  by  a  scorching  heat  and  where  they 
die  like  flies  from  malarial  fever.     Now  choose 
as  you  think  best." 

It  was  a  hot  day  in  August,  and  the  burn 
ing  rays  of  the  sun  added  weight  to  the  man's 


THE  FIFTH   SETTLEMENT.  273 

words  and  arguments.  Our  new-comers  were 
perspiring  in  their  thick  woolen  clothes,  and 
they  thought  with  dread  of  the  heat  in  Illinois, 
where  they  would  soon  be  changed  into  skel 
etons  like  that  emaciated  fellow  who  stood 
"by  the  side  of  the  healthy  and  vigorous  man 
from  Wisconsin. 

The  result  was  that  these  immigrants  went 
ashore  in  Milwaukee,  a  city  which  was  then  in 
its  infancy.  It  is  claimed  that  the  fat  man 
exhibited  to  the  Norwegians  was  the  well 
known  Mr.  Walker,  after  whom  the  present 
south  side  of  the  city  was  for  a  long  time  called 
Walker's  Point. 

~  Our  immigrants  having  been  persuaded  to 
shorten  their  journey  and  remain  in  Wis 
consin,  their  American  friends  advised  them 
to  locate  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Muskego  in 
the  present  Waukesha  county.  A  committee 
of  the  immigrants  were  appointed  to  go  with 
an  American  to  look  at  the  land,  which  could 
be  bought  for  $1.25  per  acre.  The  summer 
weather  had  dried  up  the  marshes,  and  the 
Norwegians  took  the  large  swamps  covered 
with  tall  grass  to  be  prairies.  There  was 
plenty  of  timber,  and  the  waters  were  filled 
with  fish.  The  emissaries  liked  the  land,  and 
18 


274  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

made  a  favorable  report  to  their  comrades  in 
Milwaukee.  The  result  was  that  nearly  the 
whole  company  abandoned  their  purpose  of 
going  to  the  Fox  River  settlement  in  Illinois, 
and  settled  around  the  north  end  of  Muskego 
lake.  They  at  once  began  to  clear  their  farms, 
but  when  the  fall  rains  came  the  most  of  the 
land  was  flooded.  It  was  clear  that  they  had 
made  a  poor  choice,  but  still  our  settlers  con 
tinued  to  live  on  their  farms,  and  they  were 
afterwards  joined  by  others  both  from  Tin 
and  from  Illinois.  The  settlement  grew  and 
it  became  the  stopping  place  for  many  of  the 
later  immigrants,  who  would  remain  in  Mus 
kego  a  year  OP  two  before  going  out  to  other 
settlements  in  Wisconsin.  But  in  the  years 
1849,  1850  and  1852,  cholera  visited  the  settle 
ment  and  caused  such  a  mortality  that  the  lo 
cation  came  into  disrepute.  The  most  of  those 
who  were  spared  by  the  cholera  epidemic,  emi 
grated  to  other  settlements. 

From  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Hans  J.  Ja- 
cobson,  assistant  sergeant-at-arms  of  the  Wis 
consin  state  senate  in  1895,  I  learn  that  the 
following  Norwegians  are  now  living  in  Mus 
kego,  Waukesha  county:  1.  Gunnerius  P. 
Ducleth;  2.  Ole  Larson;  3.  Rolf  Rolf  son  Fla- 
ten.  He  also  informs  me  that  the  following 


THE  FIFTH  SETTLEMENT.  275 

reside  in  the  town  of  Vernon,  west  of  Mus- 
kego:  1.  Kittel  Lohner;  2.  Gunnul  Knut- 
son  Morem;  3.  Thomas  Throndson;  4.  Andreas 
Halvorson;  5.  Anna  Kjonaas,  the  widow  of  Die 
Kjonaas.  Both  Ole  Kjonaas  and  his  wife 
came  with  the  Luraas  party  in  1839.  John 
JacobsoM  Kinong,  who  came  from  Tin,  Tliele- 
markeii  in  1843,  lived  and  died  in  Vernon.  He 
had  four  daughters.  One  of  these  married 
Col.  Hans  Heg,  another  married  John  Evenson 
Molee,  and  is  the  mother  of  Elias  J.  Molee,  a 
third  married  the  well  known  publisher  and 
journalist,  Elias  Stangeland,  and  the  fourth 
married  Hans  Tveito.  A  son  of  John  Jacob-  \ 
son-  Einong  lives  in  Fillmore  county,  Minne 
sota. 

In  the  History  of  Waukesha  County,  by 
Frank  A.  Flower,  I  find  the  following  sad  re 
port  of  our  Muskego  settlement:  "What  was 
called  the  Norwegian  settlement  began  in  the 
south  part  of  the  town  in  1839,  and  grew  rap 
idly  until  some  of  the  newly  arriving  immi 
grants  brought  the  cholera  in  1849.  Terrible 
and  indescribable  scenes  followed  the  break 
ing  out  of  this  fearful  scourge,  as  the  poor  and 
ignorant  people  did  not  know  how  to  diet  or 
abate  its  ravages  in  the  least.  A  hospital 
was  finally  established  on  the  shores  of  Big 


27b  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Muskego  lake,  in  a  large  barn,  where  scores 
of  the  poor  people  died.  This  plague  broke 
out  here  again  in  1851,  and  raged  with  fright 
ful  violence  and  fatality.  A  log  house  near 
the  town  line  in  Noway  was  then  an  im 
provised  hospital,  and  graves  were  dug  and 
kept  open  for  expected  corpses.  The  plague 
resulted  in  so  many  deaths,  and  carried  such 
terror  into  the  community,  that  all  but  a  few 
of  the  surviving  Norwegian  families  left  the 
town." 

The  fate  of  this  Muskego  settlement  most 
forcibly  reminds  us  of  the  unhappy  Beaver 
Creek  settlement  in  1837. 

John  Nelson  Luraas,  the  leader  of  the  party 
from  Tin,  very  soon  left  Muskego  and  bought  a 
farm  in  Norway,  Racine  county.  This  farm  he 
improved  considerably,  and  then  sold  it  to 
Even  H.  Heg,  and  Luraas  himself  removed 
to  Dane  county,  Wisconsin.  This  John  Nel 
son  Luraas.  who  deserves  prominence  as  one 
of  the  principal  founders  of  the  Muskego  set 
tlement,  was  born  in  Tin  in  Thelemarken, 
December  25,  1813.  He  landed  in  New  York, 
September  8,  1839,  and  as  stated,  remained  in 
Muskego  until  1843.  On  June  16th,  1843,  he 
arrived  in  the  town  of  Dunkirk,  Dane  county,, 
and  in  October,  1868,  he  removed  to  a  farm 


THE  FIFTH  SETTLEMENT.  277 

in  Webster  county,  Iowa,  about  ten  miles 
north  of  Fort  Dodge,  where  he  remained  until 
the  fall  of  1873,  when  he  returned  to  his  farm 
in  Dane  county.  In  the  fall  of  1886,  he  re 
moved  to  Stoughton,  where  he  died  May  29, 
1890.  He  was  married  in  Norway,  April  8, 
1839,  to  Miss  Anna  Olson  Berg.  John  Nelson 
Luraas  was  an  intelligent,  enterprising  man, 
and  he  accumulated  a  considerable  amount 
of  wealth.  I  was  several  times  a  guest  at  his 
hospitable  home  near  Stoughton. 

In  the  spring  of  1840,  Soren  Bache  and  Jo 
hannes  Johannesen,  men  of  means  and  intelli 
gence  who  had  come  from  Drammen,  Norway, 
the  preceding  year,  1839,  and  spent  the  winter 
in  the  Fox  River  settlement  *n  Illinois,  arrived 
in  the  town  of  Norway  in  Racine  county, 
directly  south  of  Muskego.  Norway  became 
the  nucleus  of  the  new  settlement,  which  ex 
tended  into  several  towns  of  Racine  county, 
and  the  whole  settlement  has  since  been 
known  as  Muskego,  although  the  original  set 
tlement  in  Muskego  became  practically  aban 
doned. 

/     Bache  and  Johannesen  came  for  the  purpose 

:  of  selecting  a  home  for  themselves  and  for 

others  who  intended  to  emigrate  to  America 

from    the    vicinity    of    Drammen    in    Norway. 


278  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

The    cluster    of    beautiful    lakes,    the    clear 
i  streams  of  living  water,  swarming  with  fish 
'•  and  game,  which  they  found  in  the  town  of 
Norway,  satisfied  their  desires.     A  cabin  was 
Obuilt  in  one  of  the  Indian  mounds  on  the  banks 
of  Wind  lake,  reports  of  the  country  were  sent 
!  to  their  friends  across  the  sea,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1840,  a  large  party  of  emigrants  arrived  at 
Milwaukee,  destined  for  the  town  of  Norway. 
This  party  consisted  of  Even  H.  Heg,  his  wife 
and    four    children,    Syvert    Ingebretson,    Ole 
Hoganson,    Ole    Anderson,    Helge    Thompson, 
Johannes   Skofstad   and  others,   all  of  whom 
settled    in    the    same    vicinity.     Soren    Bache 
having  considerable  capital,  he  with  his  part 
ners,  F<ven  H.  Heg  and  Johannes  Johannesen, 
purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  town  of 
Norway.     They  afterwards  sold  a  part  of  their 
lands  to  immigrants  who  came  later. 

Johannes  Johannesen  being  a  man  in  whom 
the  Norwegians  reposed  great  confidence,  a 
large  number  of  the  immigrants  that  landed 
at  Milwaukee  in  the  forties  first  came  to  what 
was  known  as  Heg's  farm,  where  they  would 
remain  for  weeks  consulting  about  wThich  part 
of  the  country  was  the  best  to  locate  in. 
Many  now  living  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and  Min 
nesota  well  remember  the  old  barn  that  shel- 


THE   FIFTH   SETTLEMENT.  279 

tered  so  many  of  them  for  a  while  in  those 
early  days  when  houses  were  scarce.  In  this, 
Heg's  barn,  Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen  preached  to  the 
Norwegians  in  this  settlement  in  1843,  and  in 
this  barn  he  organized  a  congregation  that 
same  year.  A  Norwegian  church  was  begun 
in  ijlff,  but  was  not  finished  and  dedicated 
before  1845.  Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen  was  a  Dane 
by  birth,  but  he  had  been  a  lay  preacher  in 
Norway,  and  soon  after  his  arrival  in  America, 
he  was  ordained  by  a  German  Lutheran  minis 
ter.  The  spot  selected  for  the  church  and 
also  for  the  burying  ground  was  covered  with 
a  large  number  of  Indian  graves,  and  was 
considered  as  appropriate  a  resting  place  for 
the  pale-faced  Norwegian  as  it  had  been  for 
the  red  savage.  The  church  was  built  of  logs, 
but  large  and  commodious,  on  the  same  ground 
where  the  beautiful  new  church  now  stands 
and  where  lie  buried  so  many  of  those  old 
pioneers,  including  Johannes  Johannesen, 
Even  H.  Heg,  his  wife,  and  his  son,  Col.  Hans 
C.  Heg,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Chick- 
amauga,  during  the  rebellion. 

In  the  year  1860,  the  state  of  Wisconsin 
ceded  t&  the  town  of  Norway  all  the  swamp 
lands  within  the  limit  of  the  town,  about  2,300 
acres.  The  act  provided  that  the  proceeds 


280  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

should  be  used  for  a  drainage  fund.  Only  a 
small  portion  of  this  fund  has  been  used  as  yet, 
but  the  money  is  let  out  at  interest,  on  good 
paper,  and  thus  far  not  a  dollar  has  been  lost. 
The  credit  of  securing  this  grant  to  the  town 
is  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  Hon.  Knurl  Lang- 
land,  who  at  the  time  represented  the  second 
assembly  district  of  Kacine  county  in  the 
state  legislature,  and  who  labored  zealously 
for  the  passage  of  the  bill.  The  lands  are 
now  all  or  nearly  sold  and  have  proved  to  be 
of  great  benefit  to  the  settlers  of  the  town. 

For  the  above  facts  in  regard  to  the  first 
settlement  of  Norwegians  in  Racine  county, 
I  am  indebted  in  part  to  an  article  published 
some  years  ago  in  a  Racine  county  paper,  the  ar 
ticle  being  presumably  written  by  Mr.  Ole 
Heg,  a  brother  of  Col.  Hans  Heg.  In  a  sketch 
of  the  Muskego  settlement  written  for  Billed 
Magazin,  Prof.  Svein  Nilsson  says  that  Soren 
Bache  and  Johannes  Johannesen  came  to  Ra 
cine  county  in  1839,  having  spent  only  a  few 
weeks  in  the  Fox  River  settlement,  but  I  have 
accepted  the  more  probable  version  that  these 
men  spent  the  whole  winter  in  Illinois  and 
came  to  Wisconsin  in  the  spring. 

A  sad  accident  occurred  in  the  early  days 
of  this  old  settlement,  and  that  is  said  to  be 


THE  FIFTH  SETTLEMENT.  281 

the  chief  reason  why  S6ren  Bache  returned  to 
Norway.  He  and  his  friend,  Kev.  C.  L.  Clausen, 
were  out  hunting  one  day  and  stopped  at  the 
house  of  a  Norwegian  settler.  While  Soren 
Bache  was  making  some  examination  of  the 
trigger  his  gun  accidentally  discharged  and 
killed  tlie  housewife,  whose  name  was  Hege. 
It  made  the  husband  almost  distracted  and 
Soren  Bache  was  in  danger  of  losing  his  rea 
son.  He  gave  Hege's  widower  forty  acres  of 
land  and  a  cow,  and  did  all  he  could  for  the 
poor  man,  who  accepted  the  gifts,  but  said 
"these  things  do  not  bring  back  to  me  my 
dear  Hege."  It  is  believed  that  this  accident 
was  the  main  reason  why  Bache  returned  to 
Norway  in  1845.  He  wanted  to  get  away  from 
the  scene  of  his  great  misfortune. 

Even  Heg  had  a  considerable  amount  of 
money  with  him,  and  with  that  he  bought  a 
large  tract  of  land.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
town  of  Norway  became  occupied,  and  soon 
the  newcomers  began  to  spread  into  the  ad 
joining  towns.  Mr.  Johannesen  died  in  the  col 
ony  in  1845,  and  the  same  year  Bache  re 
turned  to  Norway  and  settled  on  a  farm,  Valle, 
in  Lier,  where  he  is  said  to  have  lived  until  the 
year  1879,  but  these  two  men  are  to  be  remem 
bered  as  the  founders  of  that  part  of  the  Mus- 


282  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

kego  settlement,  which  was  located  in  Kaeine 
county,  and  which  became  permanent.  Even 
Heg  was  a  most  enterprising  man.  His  barn, 
which  is  still  standing,  was  generally  filled  a 
couple  of  months  each  summer  with  Norwe 
gian  emigrants  on  their  way  to  Koshkonong 
and  other  Norwegian  settlements  in  Wiscon 
sin.  Even  Heg's  oldest  son  was  Hans  C.  Heg, 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  names  in  Norwegian 
American  history.  He  was  elected  state  prison 
commissioner  in  1859,  and  in  1861  he  organ 
ized  the  15th  regiment,  Wisconsin  volunteers, 
consisting  almost  exclusively  of  Scandina 
vians.  Hans  Christian  Heg  became  its  coloneL 
He  was  born  near  Drammen  in  Norway,  De 
cember  21,  1829,  came  to  America  with  his 
father  in  1840,  and  was  fatally  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga,  on  the  19th  of  Septem 
ber,  1863,  and  died  the  next  day,  September  20. 
In  a  former  chapter  of  this  book  I  gave  a 
full  account  of  Col.  Porter  C.  Olson,  largely 
for  the  reason  that  his  name  had  never  re 
ceived  any  particular  attention  in  the  Scandi 
navian  press  of  this  country.  Col.  Hans  C. 
Heg's  name,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  well  known, 
particularly  to  all  Scandinavians.  Col.  Porter 
C.  Olson's  father  came  to  America  in  the  sloop 
in  1825,  while  neither  Col.  Heg  nor  his  father 


THE   FIFTH   SETTLEMENT.  233 

left  Norway  before  1840.  The  latter  do  not 
therefore  properly  belong  to  the  epoch  treated 
in  this  volume,  and  thus  the  reader  will  readily 
see  why  I  do  not  yield  to  the  temptation  of 
giving  Col.  Heg  such  a  biographical  notice 
as.  his  distinguished  and  patriotic  services  de 
serve. 

Even  Heg's  daughter,  Andrea,  is  to  be  re 
membered  as  one  of  the  first  Norwegians  to 
teach  English  district  school  in  Wisconsin. 
She  taught  school  in  the  Muskego  settlement 
during  the  winter  of  1855  and  1856.  She  after 
wards  married  Dr.  Stephen  O.  Himoe,  who 
taught  school  in  Muskego  during  the  winter 
of  1851--1852,  and  who  was  the  surgeon  of  the 
fifteenth  regiment,  Wisconsin  volunteers;  and 
after  the  war  she  settled  with  her  husband  in 
Kansas  and  died  there.  Dr.  Himoe  is  still 
living  in  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Speaking  of  early  Norwegian  school  teachers 
in  Wisconsin,  I  am  informed  by  a  letter  from 
Mr.  H.  J.  Ellertsen  that  as  early  as  1845  a 
man  by  name  John  Tvedt,  taught  school  in 
Muskego,  both  Norwegian  and  English,  but 
this  was  private  school.  Then  Mr.  Ellertsen 
tells  me  of  a  man  by  name  Carl  Torgerson, 
who  taught  public  district  school  in  Muskego 
in  the  winter  of  1852-1853.  He  was  then  a 


281  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

young  man  of  about  25  summers,  and  had 
come  from  Christiania  in  Norway,  having 
learned  English  before  coming  to  America.  He 
was  a  man  of  good  education.  In  the  summer 
of  1854  he  returned  to  Norway,  and  it  is  pre 
sumed  that  he  did  not  come  back  to  America. 
Mrs.  C.  L.  Clausen  taught  Norwegian  school  in 
the  Muskego  settlement  during  the  winter  of 
1844. 


XVIL 

The  Adland  Family. 

Among  the  Norwegians  who  came  to  Ka- 
cine  county  in  1840,  was  Mons  Adland,  he  be 
ing  the  last  one  to  abandon  the  fatal  Beaver 
Creek  settlement.  Mons  Adland  (Aadland) 
was,  as  has  been  stated  heretofore,  an  older 
brother  of  the  journalist,  Knud  Langland,  they 
taking  their  names  from  different  farms  in  Nor 
way.  They  also  had  a  sister  by  name  Magda- 
lena  Nordvig,  the  wife  of  Anders  Nordvig, 
who  came  with  her  husband  in  the  same  ves 
sel  with  Mons  Adland  and  Ole  Eynning,  and 
who  also  settled  in  Beaver  Creek.  Anders 
Nordvig  died  in  the  Beaver  Creek  settlement, 


THE   ADLAND   FAMILY.  285 

and  hfs  widow  moved  to  the  Fox  River  settle 
ment,  where  she  died  about  the  year  1892, 
over  90  years  old.  Her  daughter  Malinda  is  the 
widow  of  Tver  Lawson,  who  was  a  prominent 
Norwegian  real  estate  owner  in  Chicago,  and 
the  mother  of  Victor  F.  Lawson,  the  well 
known  owner  of  the  Chicago  Record  and  News. 

Mons  Adland  was  born  April  14,  1793,  and 
died  April  25,  1869.  He  left  Bergen,  Norway, 
April  7,  1837,  arriving  in  New  York  about 
June  12,  and  in  Chicago  about  July  12.  After 
stopping  in  Chicago  about  a  week  he  went  to 
Beaver  Creek. 

In  a  history  of  old  settlers  in  Racine  county, 
is  found  the  following  interesting  sketch  of 
Mons  Adland  and  his  family: 

"Thomas  Adland,  who  resides  on  section  30, 
is  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Ray 
mond  township,  Racine  county.  His  varied 
business  interests  have  made  him  widely 
known,  and  his  honorable  dealings  in  all 
things  have  won  him  the  respect  and  confi 
dence  of  those  with  whom  he  has  come  in  con 
tact.  Few  men  in  the  community  have  a 
larger  circle  of  acquaintances,  and  we  feel  as 
sured  that  this  record  of  his  life  will  be  re 
ceived  with  interest  by  many  of  our  readers. 

"Mr.  Adland  was  born  near  Bergen,  Norway, 


283  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

August  12,  1831,  and  is  a  son  of  Mons  K.  and 
Ellen  (Thompson)  Adland.  His  father  was 
.also  born  and  reared  in  Bergen,  and  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  country,  acquired 
his  education.  He  grew  to  manhood  upon  a 
farm,  and  afterwards  became  owner  of  a  fish 
ing  vessel.  In  1837,  accompanied  by  his  fam 
ily,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic,  landed  in  New 
York  and  by  way  of  the  lakes  went  to  Chicago, 
which  he  found  to  be  a  mere  hamlet  situated 
jn  what  appeared  to  be  then  a  swamp. 

"Joining  a  colony,  he  removed  to  Iroquois 
county,  111.,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  wild  and  un 
settled  region  made  his  home  for  three  years; 
but  the  settlement  was  broken  up  on  account 
of  prevailing  sickness — fever  and  ague,  which 
was  very  common  at  that  time.  By  team,  Mr. 
Adland  removed  to  Wisconsin  and  settled  up 
on  a  farm  on  section  30,  Raymond  township, 
which  is  now  the  home  of  our  subject.  The 
quarter  section  of  land  which  he  had  pur 
chased  from  the  government  was  entirely  des 
titute  of  improvements,  not  a  furrow  having 
been  turned,  a  single  rod  of  fence  built  or  the 
work  of  developing  in  any  way  commenced. 
The  first  home  of  the  family  was  a  log  cabin, 
and  in  true  pioneer  style  they  spent  the  first 
years  of  their  residence  in  Wisconsin.  Mons 


THE  ADLAND   FAMILY.  287 

Adland  came  here  with  nothing  but  his  cat 
tle,  yet  at  his  death  he  had  accumulated  a  fair 
property,  his  unremitting  labor,  his  persever 
ance  and  enterprise  winning  him  a  handsome 
competence,  and  ten  years  before  his  death, 
he  divided  among  his  children  between  five 
and  six  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  was  a  man 
of  generous  spirit,  as  is  shown  by  his  liberal 
gifts,  and  one  who  took  a  commendable  inter 
est  in  public  affairs.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  members  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  in 
politics  he  was  a  republican,  after  the  birth 
of  that  party,  having  previously  been  a  dem 
ocrat.  He  resided  in  the  neighborhood  of 
his  pioneer  home  until  his  death,  which  oc 
curred  in  1869,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years. 
His  estimable  wife  had  passed  away  two  years 
previously.  Six  of  their  children  grew  to  ma 
ture  years,  and  three  are  yet  living — Knud,  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Eaymond  township; 
Thomas,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Martha, 
who  is  married  and  resides  in  Norway. 

"The  first  six  years  of  Thomas  Adland's  life 
were  passed  in  his  native  land,  and  he  then 
came  with  his  parents  across  the  briny  deep 
to  the  United  States.  Upon  new  farms  in  Illi 
nois  and  Wisconsin  he  wras  reared  to  manhood, 


288  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

and  the  hard  task  of  improving  unbroken  land 
is  not  unknown  to  him. 

"His  education  was  acquired  in  the  district 
schools,  and  reading  and  observation  in  sub 
sequent  years  have  made  him  a  well  informed 
man.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  began  to  run 
a  threshing  machine,  -which  business  he  fol 
lowed  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  had 
charge  of  the  home  farm  since  1859,  and  is 
now  the  owner  of  300  acres  of  as  fine  land  as 
can  be  found  in  Racine  county. 

"The  Adland  homestead  is  a  model  farm, 
supplied  with  all  modern  improvements,  ex 
cellent  buildings,  the  latest  machinery  and  good 
grades  of  stock. 

"On  the  19th  of  May,  1859,  Mr.  Adland  se 
cured  as  a  companion  and  helpmate  on  life's 
journey  Miss  Julia  Nelson,  who  was  born  in 
Norway,  but  since  two  years  old  has  been  a 
resident  of  Racine  county.  Nine  children 
grace  their  union,  and  the  family  circle  yet  re 
mains  unbroken.  They  are  as  follows:  Carrie, 
Ellen,  Peter,  Martha,  Edwin;  Bertha,  Lavina, 
Thomas  and  Jessie.  All  of  the  children  were 
born  on  the  farm,  and  under  the  sheltering 
roof  of  the  old  home  their  childhood  days  were 
passed.  Good  educational  advantages  have 
been  afforded  them,  and  Carrie  and  Peter  have 


THE   ADLAND   FAMILY.  289 

both  attended  school  in  Kacine.  The  latter 
was  a  student  in  Spencer's  Business  College 
of  Milwaukee,  and  now  has  charge  of  his 
father's  tile  factory. 

"Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adland  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  and  to  its  support  he 
contributes  liberally.  He  cast  his  first  presi 
dential  vote  in  1852  for  John  P.  Hale,  four 
years  later  supported  Fremont,  twice  voted  for 
Lincoln  and  once  for  Grant.  He  then  cast 
his  ballot  in  support  of  Horace  Greeley,  and 
since  that  time  has  advocated  the  principles 
of  the  democracy,  being  opposed  to  high  tariff. 
He  has  often  served  in  the  conventions  of  his 
party,  both  county  and  state,  and  is  widely 
known  among  the  prominent  democrats  of 
Wisconsin.  For  three  years  he  has  served  as 
chairman  of  the  town  board  of  supervisors; 
for  thirty  years  he  has  been  connected  with  the 
North  Cape  literary  society,  and  is  the  present 
treasurer  of  the  township  insurance  company. 
Other  business  interests  have  also  occupied 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Adland,  who  has  been 
connected  with  many  of  the  leading  industries 
of  this  neighborhood.  Five  years  ago  he  es 
tablished  a  tile  factory,  which  has  since  been 
successfully  operated.  Mr.  Adland  possesses 


290  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

superior  business  and  executive  ability;  his 
life  has  been  characterized  by  energy,  perse 
verance  and  good  management,  which  are  es 
sential  to  success,  and  his  progressive  spirit 
has  made  him  a  leader  in  the  community.  Over 
half  a  century  has  passed  since  he  became  a 
resident  of  the  county,  during  which  time  he 
has  witnessed  the  greater  part  of  its  growth 
and  development,  and  not  a  little  of  its  ad 
vancement  and  upbuilding  is  due  to  his  enter 
prising  efforts.  He  is  accounted  not  only  one 
of  its  substantial  business  men,  but  is  also 
numbered  among  the  honored  pioneers  of  Ka- 
cine  county,  and  is  well  deserving  of  repre 
sentation  in  this  volume." 


XVIIL 
Other  Early  Settlers  in  Muskego. 

Among  those  who  emigrated  from  Upper 
Thelemarken  in  1839  and  settled  in  Muskego, 
we  must  not  forget  Nelson  Johnson  Kaasa.  He 
dropped  the  farm  name  Kaasa  in  this  country, 
and  was  known  as  simply  Nelson  Johnson. 
He  came  to  America  by  way  of  Gothenborg, 
and  went  directly  to  Milwaukee,  where  he 


OTHER  EARLY   SETTLERS  IN  MUSKEGO.      29i 

found  work  during  the  first  year,  and  then  set 
tled  in  Muskego.  He  worked  out  for  f  6  per 
month  in  the  winter,  splitting  rails,  and  at 
|12.50  a  month  in  the  summer.  In  this  way  he 
paid  for  his  passage  from  Norway,  and  also  in 
part  for  a  farm  which  he  had  bought  in  Mus 
kego. 

In  1850  he  moved  to  Iowa  and  pre-empted 
a  farm  in  the  town  of  Decorah,  Winneshiek 
county,  where  he  lived  until  his  death  in 
April,  1882,  excepting  from  the  fall  of  1855 
to  the  fall  of  1857,  when  he  was  pastor  of  the 
Norwegian  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
Cambridge,  Dane  county,  Wis.  Nelson  John 
son  preached  in  all  about  twenty-five  years. 

Nelson  Johnson  was  born  in  Hitterdal 
Parish,  Upper  Thelemarken,  in  the  year  1816. 
In  1843  he  married  in  Kacine  county,  Wis., 
Miss  Anna  Nelson  Solheim,  who  came  from 
Voss  in  1841.  They  had  seven  children,  all 
of  whom  are  living,  viz.:  John  W.  Nelson,  who 
lives  at  Kacine,  Wis.;  Bessie  P.  (now  Mrs.  J.  E. 
Cook),  residing  at  Independence,  Iowa;  Martha 
A.  (now  Mrs.  J.  E.  Anderson),  residing  at  Forest 
City,  Iowa;  Martin  N.  (now  serving  his  second 
term  as  member  of  congress  for  North  Da 
kota),  residing  at  Petersburg,  N.  D.;  Lewis  C., 
an  attorney-at-law,  now  residing  at  Fargo, 


292  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

N.  D.;  Mary  H.  (now  Mrs.  P.  P.  Wilcox),  resid 
ing  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.;  and  Salinda  F.  (now 
Mrs.  Geo.  Spofford),  residing  at  Forest  City, 
Iowa.  Nelson  Johnson  died  April  14,  1882, 
and  his  wife  died  March  17,  1883.  The  same 
year  with  Nelson  Johnson  came  also  his 
brother,  Gjermund  Johnson,  born  in  Hitterdal 
in  1802.  He,  too,  sailed  from  Gothenborg,  but 
not  in  the  same  ship  with  his  brother.  He 
lived  in  Eacine  county,  Wis.,  until  1850,  when 
he  moved  to  Iowa  and  bought  land  in  Glen- 
wood,  Winneshiek  county.  He  remained  on 
his  farm  until  the  early  seventies,  when  he 
moved  to  Decorah  and  died  there  in  Decem 
ber,  1893,  at  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-one.  His 
wife  Ragnhild  died  there  about  ten  years 
earlier.  They  were  married  in  Norway,  and 
had  one  or  two  children  before  they  emigrated. 

Nelson  and  Gjermund  Johnson  were  among 
the  pioneers  of  Winneshiek  county,  Iowa. 
The  Indians  had  been  removed  in  1849,  and 
there  were  only  two  small  log  houses  in  the 
now  prosperous  and  famous  city  of  Decorah. 

As  soon  as  the  number  of  settlers  in  Mus- 
kego  had  increased  sufficiently,  Mr.  Bache  and 
Mr.  Johannesen  started  a  store  there.  Their 
home  was,  as  already  stated,  in  an  Indian 
mound,  which  they  had  dug  out  and  sided  in- 


OTHER  EARLY    SETTLERS   IN   MUSKEGO.      298 

side  with  boards,  and  this  strange  abode 
served  as  bedroom,  kitchen,  sitting  room  and 
r;tore.  The  most  necessary  articles  of  mer 
chandise  were  bought  in  Milwaukee  and  dis 
tributed  from  this  mound,  which  was  regarded 
as  the  center  of  the  settlement. 

In  the  Muskego  settlement  also  appeared 
the  first  Norwegian  newspaper  published  in 
America.  It  was  called  Nordlyset  (The 
Northern  Light),  and  made  its  appearance  in 
1847.  It  was  started  by  Even  Heg  and  James 
D.  Keymert,  an  attorney,  who  afterwards  re 
moved  to  New  York  city.  Even  Heg,  being  in 
good  financial  circumstances,  furnished  the 
money.  Mr.  Keymert  became  the  editor,  and 
Die  Torgerson,  a  man  who  came  from  Sogn  in\ 
Norway  in  1844,  and  who  is  still  living  in 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  set  the  first  type.  Thus 
Ole  Torgerson  may  be  regarded  as  the  first 
compositor  in  a  Norwegian  printing  establish 
ment  in  America.  Reymert,  who  was  an  edu 
cated  young  man,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent 
on  his  mother's  side,  and  who  had  been  edu 
cated  partly  in  Norway  and  partly  in  Scotland, 
was  a  Free  Soiler,  and  Nordlyset  became 
the  Norwegian  organ  of  that  party.  During 
the  first  year  it  secured  about  200  subscribers, 
but  it  is  said  that  many  of  them  forgot  to  pay 


294  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

for  the  paper.  Nordlyset  appeared  with  four 
pages  and  four  columns  on  each  page.  As  it 
was  published  in  the  country  it  could  not  count 
en  getting  many  advertisements.  Nordlyset 
served  its.  editor  a  good  purpose,  in  as  much  as 
it  brought  him  into  political  notice.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Wisconsin  Constitutional  Con 
vention  in  1847,  of  the  Wisconsin  assembly  in 
1849,  of  the  senate  in  1854--1855,  and  again  of 
the  assembly  in  1857.  He  was,  so  far  as  I 
know,  the  first  Norwegian  to  fill  the  above 
named  offices  in  America.  Mr.  Eeymert  came 
from  Farsund  in  Norway,  and  he  married  Miss 
Hanson  in  Muskego.  He  was  an  energetic 
business  man,  and  in  1852  he  completed  a 
plank  road  in  Kacine  county.  At  another 
time  we  find  him  running  a  saw-mill  in  Sauk- 
ville,  Ozaukee  county.  I  do  not  know  as  he 
was  entirely  trustworthy.  At  all  events  he  is 
charged  with  mismanaging  the  property  of 
Soren  Bache,  which  was  left  in  his  care.  From 
Muskego  Eeymert  went  to  Milwaukee  and 
thence  to  Hudson,  where  he  served  as  regis 
ter  of  the  United  States  land  office.  From 
Hudson  he  went  to  New  York  city,  where  we 
/  lose  trace  of  him  altogether.  I  have  been  told 
that  he  left  New  York  for  New  Mexico  or  some 
other  part  of  the  far  west. 


OTHER  EARLY  SETTLERS  IN   MUSKEGO.      295 

The  newspaper  Nordlyset,  of  which  he  was 
for  a  short  time  the  editor,  was  sold  in  tb- 
autumn  of  1849  to  Knud  Langland  and  O.  J. 
Hatlestad,  and  moved  to  Kacine,  Wis.,  where 
its  name  was  changed  to  Demokraten.  Its 
fate  in  the  hands  of  the  new  proprietors  has 
been  told  in  connection  with  the  account  of 
its  new  editor,  Knud  Langland.  (See  page  226.) 

An  old  settler  in  Muskego  was  Herman  Nel 
son  Tufte,  from  Hallingdal.  I  mention  him 
particularly  on  account  of  his  three  daughters, 
who  made  notable  marriages.  One  of  his 
daughters  was  married  to  the  far-famed  lay 
preacher,  Elling  Eielson,  a  second  one  to  the 
wealthy  merchant  in  Perry,  Dane  county,  Wis., 
O.  B.  Dahle,  and  the  third  sister  married  Mr. 
Thomas  Adland,  whose  sketch  has  been  given 
above. 

One  of  the  oldest  settlers  in  Muskego  was 
John  J.  Dale.  He  was  born  in  Bergen  Stift, 
Norway,  in  August,  1795,  and  came  to  America 
in  the  same  ship  with  Ole  Rynning  in  1837. 
He  first  settled  in  the  Fox  River  settlement, 
and  came  to  Muskego  in  1842,  where  he  died 
in  1882.  Anna,  his  wife,  died  in  Illinois  in 
1839. 


296  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 


XIX. 
Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen. 

The  lay  preacher,  Elling  Eielson,  came  to 
Muskego  in  1840,  though  he  had  his  headquar 
ters  in  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement.  It  is,  how 
ever,  of  record  that  he  held  a  number  of  gospel 
meetings  in  Muskego  prior  to  1843.  In  that 
year  the  settlement  obtained  a  teacher  from 
Norway  in  the  person  of  C.  L.  Clausen,  a  Dane, 
who  had  gone  to  Norway  to  seek  employment 
in  the  missionary  field,  but  was  persuaded  to 
go  to  America  as  a  teacher  among  the  Nor 
wegian  immigrants.  He  came  to  Muskego, 
but  he  soon  found  that  his  mission  would  be 
more  successful  as  a  minister  than  as  a  mere 
schoolmaster,  and  being  found  amply  qualified 
for  the  vocation  he  was  regularly  ordained 
by  a  German  Lutheran  minister,  and  became 
the  pastor  of  the  Muskego  congregation.  Mr. 
Clausen  arrived  in  Muskego  in  August,  1843, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  November  of  the  same 
year  a  meeting  was  held,  in  which  it  was 
agreed  upon  and  resolved  to  build  a  church 
the  next  year.  I  am  aware  that  there  is  some 


REV.  C.  L.  CL.AUSLN.  297 

controversy  as  to  when  and  where  the  first 
Norwegian  Lutheran  congregation  was  organ 
ized.  I  have  seen  no  documents  showing  that 
a  congregation  was  formally  organized  in  Mus- 
kego  in  1843,  but  I  suppose  that  the  fact  that 
a  body  of  people  call  a  pastor  and  resolve  to 
build  a  church  implies  some  kind  of  organiza 
tion  behind  it. 

The  building  of  a  church,  particularly,  in 
volves  buying  land  and  becoming  owners  of  a 
church  edifice.  It  also  appears  that  money 
was  invested  in  a  parsonage.  I  do  not  care 
to  enter  upon  any  controversy,  but  I  may  be 
permitted  to  ask  when  the  Muskego  congrega 
tion  was  organized,  if  this  was  not  done  in  the 
fall  of  1843.  At  the  meeting  held  in  Novem 
ber,  1843,  Mr.  Clausen  stated  that  he  had  invi 
tations  to  preach  in  settlements  further  west. 
These  requests  he  laid  before  the  meeting  and 
said  he  found  it  to  be  his  duty  to  visit  the  set 
tlements  in  question,  "as  he  was  the  only  min 
ister  among  the  Norwegians  in  America,"  and 
we  know  that  Mr.  Clausen  soon  after  did 
preach  on  Koshkonong  and  at  other  places. 
The  church  register  (Ministerialbogen)  begins 
October  21,  1843,  and  the  heading  on  the  first 
page  is  "Protocol  of  baptisms  (Daabsprotokol) 
for  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  congregation  in 


298  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Muskego  for  1843  to  1846  inclusive."  This,  to 
gether  with  the  fact  that  the  people  resolved 
to  build  a  church  and  transact  other  business, 
seems  to  ine  to  be  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
an  organized  congregation,  although  the  mem 
bers  may  not  have  formulated  and  signed  their 
names  to  any  constitution  or  expression  of  re 
ligious  belief." 

Tollef  Bache,  of  Drammen,  Norway,  con 
tributed  four  hundred  dollars  toward  the  erec 
tion  of  the  church,  which  was  built  by  the  late 
Halvor  Nelson  Lohner.  This  old  building  now 
belongs  to  Hans  J.  Jacobson.  He  bought  it 
for  about  f  150,  and  it  now  does  service  as  a 
barn.  The  builder,  Halvor  Nelson  Lohner, 
came  with  the  Luraas  party  from  Thelemarken 
in  1839,  and  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  1894. 
He  is  to  be  remembered  as  the  first  church- 
builder  of  the  Norwegian  immigrants  in  this 
century.  Lohner  also  built  the  parsonage  for 
Eev.  C.  L.  Clausen,  and  this  house  also  belongs 
to  Hans  J.  Jacobson  and  is  a  part  of  his  resi 
dence.  After  Mr.  Clausen  had  been  ordained 
as  a  minister,  his  wife,  a  most  intelligent  and 
noble  woman,  taught  the  children  of  her  hus 
band's  church  free  of  charge. 

Johan  Reinert  Reiersen,  the  founder  of  the 
first  Norwegian  settlement  in  Texas,  visited 


REV.  C.  L.  CLAUSEN.  299 

the  Norwegian  settlements  in  America  in 
1843,  and  in  his  book,  "Veiviseren"  (The  Path 
finder),  published  immediately  after  his  return 
to  Norway,  I  find  this  statement  in  regard  to 
Muskego:  "The  settlement  has  organized 
itself  into  a  congregation  and  chosen  a  Danish 
seminarist,  Clausen,  who  has  been  ordained 
by  a  Lutheran  clergyman,  as  their  pastor.  He 
is  a  very  capable  and  well  educated  young 
man,  who  in  a  short  time  has  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  whole  settlement." 

Mr.  Keierson  then  gives  this  quaint  bit  about 
Elling  Eielson:  "Elling  Eielson  also  lives  in 
this  locality  and  has  married  a  Norwegian  girl 
after  having  previously  talked  zealously  about 
the  sinfulness  of  marriage.  By  several  doubt 
ful  transactions  he  has  wholly  lost  the  con 
fidence  he  once  enjoyed,  and  is  nearly  at  the 
end  of  his  career  as  an  apostle."  (!)  Then 
Reierson  gives  this  fact:  "The  teacher  in  gym- 
nasties  (dancing  master),  Hanson,  has  also  lo 
cated  in  this  settlement" 


300  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

XX. 

John  Evenson  Molee. 

Before  leaving  the  Muskego  settlement  I 
must  present  to  my  readers  an  autobiographic 
sketch  of  John  Evenson  Molee,  who  came  with 
the  Luraas  party  in  1839.  In  the  preparation 
of  it  the  aged  writer  has  had  the  assistance 
of  his  son,  Elias  J.  Molee,  the  well-known 
language  reformer,  now  of  Butler,  Day  county, 
South  Dakota.  His  letter  will  be  found  to 
voice  the  views  and  sentiments  of  many  of  the 
old  emigrants: 

Rock  Dell,  Olmstead  Co.,  Minn., 

Feb.  22,  1895. 
Prof.  R.  B.  Anderson, 

Madison,  Wis. 
Dear  Sir— 

Your  letters  received.  You  ask  me  for  rem 
iniscences  of  my  early  life;  of  my  journey  to 
the  United  States,  and  events  of  rny  later  years. 
I  fear  your  readers  will  be  little  interested 
in  my  personal  story,  unless,  indeed,  they  are 
students  of  heredity,  and  are  pursuing  the  new 
educational  line  of  thought,  which  aims  at 
finding  out  the  ideas  of  primitive  men  and  chil- 


JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEB.  301 

dren,  for  purposes  of  discovering  improved 
methods  and  subjects  of  instruction. 

you  will  at  once  see  my  northern,  demo 
cratic,  independent  viking  instincts,  when  i 
ask  you  to  be  so  kind  as  to  leave  out  all  useless 
capital  letters  from  my  communication  to 
you.*  i  wish  also  to  go  on  record  as  a  friend 
of  self-explaining,  home-grown,  saxon-english 
compounds,  instead  of  the  foreign-borrowed, 
thought-hiding  rags  of  rome;  as,  "equator,"  for 
"mid-line;"  "artic,"  for  ''north ;"  "artic  ocean" 
for  "north  ocean;"  "zone"  for  "belt;"  "isthmus" 
for  "neck-land;"  "capricorn"  for  "south  sun- 
line,"  "peninsula"  for  "half -island,"  etc.  this 
would  be  easy  for  children  arid  primitive  men. 
i  also  believe  in  the  easy  world's  metric  sys 
tem  of  weights  and  measures,  multiplying  and 
dividing  by  ten. 

As  you  requested  me  to  give  you  a  synopsis 
of  my  life,  "such  as  I  have  give  I  unto  thee." 

I  first  saw  light  in  1816  in  the  district  of  Tin 
(Tins-Prestegjeld),  Norway,  but  I  do  not  know 
on  what  day  in  the  month,  for  I  lost  the  record 

*  Mr.  Molee  writes  without  using  any  capital  letters.  I  am 
sorry  that  I  am  not  able  to  comply  with  his  request,  but  I 
print  one  paragraph  as  a  sample.  Except  as  to  capitals  I 
publish  Mr.  Molee's  letter  in  the  somewhat  .-  aaint  English 
in  which  it  is  written.  R.  B.  A. 


302  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

when  I  came  to  America  more  than  half  a  cen 
tury  ago. 

My  father  was  a  large,  powerful  man,  and 
went  by  the  name  of  "Strong  Even"  (Stserk- 
Even).  My  paternal  grandfather's  name  vras 
Halvor,  after  whom  my  brother  was  baptized. 
He  owned  a  farm  and  a  grist-mill  in  the  valley 
east  from  the  farm  he  gave  to  father,  and  on 
which  we  lived.  My  mother's  name  was  Gun- 
hild  Nerison,  which  means  blessing.  All  my 
ancestors,  as  far  as  I  know,  have  been  land 
owners  and  tillers  of  the  earth,  for  land  is  not 
monopolized  in  Norway.  They  were  all  very 
kind  to  their  domestic  animals.  They  housed 
and  fed  them,  as  if  they  had  been  their  half- 
brothers.  There  was  a  belief  common  among 
the  people  that  it  was  a  great  sin  to  be  cruel 
to  the  dumb  brutes,  and  that  they  would  com 
plain  against  those  who  abused  them  on  the 
day  of  judgment.  Every  Christmas  day  (Jule- 
dag),  sheaves  of  barley  and  oats  were  placed 
on  the  roofs  of  the  barns  for  the  wild  birds. 

My  father's  farm  ran  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  river  in  the  valley  and  back  over  the 
meadow  and  up  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill.  We 
children  caught  fine  fish  there  whenever  we 
wished  to  do  so.  This  was  a  great  help  to  our 


JOHN   EVENSON  MOLEE.  303 

family,  while  father  was  out  as  a  soldier,  de 
fending  the  country  against  the  Swedes. 

Fortunately,  the  war  was  soon  ended  by  a 
compromise,  Norway  retaining  her  own  legis 
lature,  and  a  right  to  act  more  freely  and  in 
dependently  than  if  she  had  been  a  state  in 
the  American  union,  for  she  even  retained  her 
own  tariff.  Norway  also  made  her  own  con 
stitution,  and  she  consented  to  a  union  for 
mutual  self-defense  with  Sweden.  Paragraph 
112  goes  even  so  far  as  to  take  away  the  king's 
absolute  veto.  The  title  of  nobility  was  also 
abolished  in  Norway. 

Father  and  Uncle  John  came  home  to  us, 
full  of  stories  of  the  "war  with  the  Swedes." 

After  I  had  learned,  in  school  and  at  home, 
to  read,  sing,  and  to  say  from  memory  my  cate 
chism,  explanation-book  (forklaring),  a  short 
Bible  history  and  a  few  hymns,  I  was  con 
firmed  and  admitted  as  a  communicant  of  the 
Lutheran  church.  Our  minister  was  appointed 
by  the  state;  that  is,  by  the  church  department 
of  the  state,  and  held  the  office  in  the  same 
place  during  good  and  bad  behavior.  The 
people  had  at  that  time  no  choice  in  selecting 
their  own  pastor. 

I  remained  at  home  to  help  father  work  his 
land  until  I  was  nineteen  years  old,  when  I 


304  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

began  to  wonder  what  I  should  do  in  the 
future.  I  loved  the  pleasant  old  homestead, 
the  goose  that  had  laid  so  many  golden  e?<TS 
for  us  through  many  generations,  but  alas!  I 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  old  nest  with  no  hope 
of  getting  a  nest  of  my  own  near  home. 

My  oldest  brother,  according  to  the  old  law 
of  primogeniture  (odels-ret),  would  take  the 
farm  unincumbered,  and  there  was  not  enough 
cash  or  personal  property  on  hand  for  me  and 
niy  sisters  with  which  to  buy  another  farm,  for 
we  were  seven  children.  I  thought  often,  "O, 
where  shall  we  younger  children  go?  What 
will  become  of  us?" 

We  had  no  thought  of  North  America  then. 
The  labor  market  was  so  overstocked  that 
strong  young  men  could  hardly  obtain  work 
for  more  than  five  dollars  and  clothing  a  year. 
I  had  not  been  used  to  be  a  servant,  nor  had 
my  dear  sisters.  Whey  my  oldest  brother, 
Halvor,  marries  and  gets  a  family  of  seven  or 
eight  children,  there  will  be  no  room  for  us. 
I  can  hardly  tell  how  bad  I  felt  for  my  sisters 
and  myself  in  the  year  1835. 

Some  curious  thoughts  flitted  through  my 
mind.  I  began,  in  a  sinful  manner,  to  blame 
God  and  my  parents  for  giving  us  so  large  a 
family.  WThen  over-population  takes  place, 


JOHN   EVENSON   MOLEE.  805 

thought  I,  neither  a  just  government  nor  a 
good  minister  can  help  the  people  to  obtain 
the  comforts  of  life.  Would  it  not  be  better 
to  have  fewer  children,  and  make  each  child 
more  efficient  by  more  training?  If  God  had 
given  each  family  only  two  or  three  children, 
then  land  and  houses  would  have  been  cheaper 
and  easier  to  buy.  If  each  family  had  only 
two  children,  thinks  I,  in  my  youthful  way, 
then  brother  Halvor  would  have  married,  and 
given  some  neighbor's  daughter  a  pleasant 
home  and  taken  better  care  of  father  and 
mother.  I  could  then  have,  in  like  manner, 
gone  to  some  other  neighbor. 

Now,  however,  there  is  a  terrible  waste  of 
life.  I  dreaded  a  servant's  fate.  The  profes 
sions  and  trades  were  also  overstocked.  A 
laborer  was  not  allowed  to  eat  at  the  same 
table  with  a  land-owner.  Labor  commenced 
before  sunrise  and  lasted  till  after  dark — no 
time  for  the  enrichment  of  the  mind  by  read 
ing  newspapers  or  good  books  evenings.  Yet 
it  was  worse  before  the  French  revolution, 
when  my  father  was  a  boy. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  I  gained  my  parents' 
consent  to  go  to  the  western  coast  of  Norway, 
with  a  view  of  becoming  a  sailor,  and  roam 
20 


806  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

upon  the  free  sea,  the  spacious  home  of  so 
many  brave  Northmen. 

I  packed  up  all  the  clothes  I  could  carry. 
Father  gave  me  pocket  money  until  I  could 
find  employment.  After  bidding  farewell, 
with  father,  mother  and  my  sisters  amid,  tears 
and  weeping,  I  started  afoot  on  my  journey  to 
the  old  seamen's  city  of  Stavanger,  in  1835, 
about  150  kilometers  distant.  This  is  a  good 
seaport  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Norway. 

After  inquiring  around  a  short  time,  I  be 
came  acquainted  with  a  stock  and  dairy 
farmer,  by  the  name  of  Gitle  Danielson,  who 
lived  on  an  island  ten  kilometers  north  from 
the  city  of  Stavanger.  The  name  of  the  island 
is  Renneso.  This  island  supports  four  churches. 
The  main  industries  consist  in  fishing,  raising 
cattle,  and  sending  butter  and  milk  to  Sta 
vanger.  The  island  is  about  thirty  kilometers 
long  and  fifteen  wide,  and  is  the  largest  of  the 
many  coast  islands  here.  I  remained  four  years 
with  Gitle  Danielson  and  family,  at  such 
wages  as  were  then  going.  He  was  one  of  the 
kindest  men  I  have  met  among  strangers.  *As 
I  had  frequent  chances  to  row  to  Stavanger 
with  butter  and  milk,  I  enjoyed  my  work  very 
well. 

In   1839,   the   "America   fever,"   as   it  was 


JOHN    EVENSON   MOLEE.  307 

called,  commenced.  Gitle  Danielson,  my  mas 
ter,  and  his  family,  were  smitten  badly  by  the 
"America  fever;"  that  is,  an  intense  desire  to 
emigrate  to  America.  Mr.  Danielson  sold  his 
farm  and  personal  property  and  made  himself 
ready  for  the  daring  undertaking. 

When  I  saw  my  good  master  and  mistress, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Danielson,  and  the  children, 
whom  I  had  begun  to  regard  as  my  own 
brothers  and  sisters,  making  ready  to  sail  to 
America,  I  also  caught  the  "America  fever" 
in  its  most  intense  form.  You  may  be  sure 
I  wanted  to  go  along.  I  wras  aching  to  go,  but 
the  passage  money  was  too  high  for  me.  I 
had  only  a  few  dollars  and  three  suits  of 
clothes.  You  can  imagine  that  I  asked  Mr. 
Danielson  to  take  me  along  to  America.  At 
first  he  said  that  he  had  a  large  family  to  pay 
for,  and  that  he  would  like  to  have  some  spare 
money  left  when  he  came  to  the  state  of  Wis 
consin,  so  that  he  could  buy  some  land  and 
build  a  house  and  buy  provisions  for  a  year, 
without  being  obliged  to  work  out,  and  thus 
neglect  his  own  home.  He  also  said  that  he 
had  not  received  much  for  his  land  and  per 
sonal  property,  as  prices  had  been  greatly  de 
pressed  by  the  government  through  the  influ 
ence  of  the  office-holding  class  and  the  money- 


808  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

loaners,  and  their  policy  to  contract  the  cur 
rency  to  increase  their  incomes;  that  is,  make 
the  same  incomes  relatively  more  valuable  by 
making  the  dollar  dearer  by  less  currency, 
and,  hence  cheaper  labor  and  more  goods  for 
the  same  money,  while  incomes  remained  un 
changed. 

When  I  heard  Mr.  Danielson  say  that  he 
could  not  take  me  along  to  America,  I  felt  so 
small  that  I  could  have  hidden  myself  away  in 
his  trunk.  I  could  not  sleep  the  next  night, 
and  I  often  cried  bitterly.  When  I  met  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Danielson  the  next  morning,  they 
asked  me  if  I  was  sick  for  I  did  not  look  well. 
I  said  I  felt  very  bad  because  I  could  not  go 
with  them  to  America.  They  smiled  at  what 
I  said,  but  made  no  remarks  one  way  or  the 
other. 

After  an  interval  of  two  days,  Mr.  Gitle 
Danielson  told  me  that  he  had  talked  the  mat 
ter  over  with  his  family  and  come  to  the  con 
clusion  that  he  could  take  me  along  and  pay 
the  passage  money  if  I  was  willing  to  agree 
to  work  for  him  two  years  after  I  arrived  in 
America.  That  was  just  what  I  wanted.  It 
did  not  take  me  longer  to  make  up  my  mind 
than  it  requires  to  say  uja."  I  agreed  to  work 
for  him  two  years  after  I  arrived  in  Wisconsin* 


JOHN   EVENSON  MOLEB.  809 

Although  this  was  three  times  more  than  the 
amount  of  the  passage  money,  I  would  rather 
do  that  than  remain  in  the  over-crowded  old 
country. 

In  May  we  spread  the  sails,  and  set  out  from 
the  good  old  city  of  Stavanger  in  a  little  her 
ring  yacht  (silde-jakt)  to  Gothenborg,  in 
southern  Sweden. 

I  can  yet  remember  the  names  of  the  follow 
ing  persons  from  Stavanger  Amt,  namely: — 

Gitle  Danielson,  with  family. 

Halvor  Jellarviken,  with  family 

Peder  Kosoino,  with  family. 

Erik  Svinalie  and  sister  (both  single). 

When  we  came  to  Gothenborg,  in  Sweden, 
another  ship  came  there  from  Drammen,  in 
the  southern  part  of  Norway,  and  brought  the 
following  passengers  from  Tin,  which  I  can  re 
member,  namely: — 

Ole  Hellekson  Krokan,  with  family. 

7 Q'  '•  r-  '  J    ^-  V  ^Str/^2 &T~ 

Halvor  Lonnok  Vinlete,  with  family. 
Torger  Ostenson  Luraas,  with  family. 
Havor  Ostenson  Luraas,  with  family. 
John  Nilson  Luraas,  with  family. 
Knudt  Luraas,  with  family. 
Helge  Matison,  with  family. 
Osten  Mollerflaten,  with  family. 
Nils  Johnson  (from  Hitterdal),  with  family. 


810  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Nils  Tollefsjord,  single. 

Ole  Tollefsjord,  single. 

John  Tollefsjord,  single. 

Both  the  party  from  Stavanger  and  that 
from  Tin  in  Upper  Tellemarken,  went  on  board 
together  into  an  American  sail  ship  loaded 
with  Swedish  iron  from  Gothenborg  to  Boston. 
I  cannot  remember  the  name  of  the  ship  or  the 
captain.  It  took  us  nine  weeks  and  three 
days  to  sail  from  Gothenborg,  Sweden,  to  Bos 
ton.  We  had  from  Stavanger  one  Norwegian 
Quaker  on  board.  I  forget  his  name. 

When  we  entered  the  commodious  harbor  of 
Boston,  you  may  be  sure  we  felt  very  happy 
to  behold  land,  after  having  tumbled  about  so 
long  on  the  wide  sea.  Boston  looked  familiar 
to  me.  There  were  the  same  cluster  of  coast 
islands  before  entering  the  city  as  at  old  Sta 
vanger  in  Norway.  In  the  distance  we  saw 
hills  and  trees,  which  looks  very  natural  and 
home-like  to  a  Norwegian  or  a  Swede. 

After  four  days'  stay  in  Boston,  we  sailed  to 
New  York  city  and  up  the  Hudson  river  to  the 
entrance  of  the  Erie  canal.  Here  we  were  of 
fered  work  if  we  would  stay,  but  we  had  all 
made  up  our  minds  to  go  west  to  find  land  on 
which  to  settle.  A  jovial  American  told  our 
interpreter  that  we  must  not  go  to  Buffalo  or 


OHN   EVEN  SON  MOLEE. 

we  would  be  sold  into  slavery.  This  was  the 
great  topic  of  the  day  in  the  United  States. 
Then  he  said  to  our  interpreter,  "Don't  let 
those  good  people  go  to  Buffalo,  for  the"  will 
certainly  be  taken  south  and  be  turned  over  to 
slavery  to  work  side  by  side  with  black  men, 
to  raise  cotton  and  tobacco.  Don't  go  to  Buf 
falo,  for  God's  sake!" 

We  could  not  think  of  any  crime  we  had 
committed  to  deserve  such  treatment,  yet  the 
statement  surprised  us  at  first.  My  master 
and  his  family,  Gitle  Danielson,  from  Sta- 
vanger,  had  been  sick  nearly  the  whole  time 
on  the  journey,  but  this  slavery  joke  waked 
him  up,  for  he  had  been  a  great  reader.  He 
said,  "It  can  not  be  true,  because  Norwegians 
or  Scandinavians  in  general  are  not  the  kind 
of  people  of  which  to  make  slaves.  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  Scandinavians  ever  being 
slaves  to  a  foreign  race.  Just  think  of  it. 
Never  at  any  time  since  the  dawn  of  history 
have  the  Scandinavians  been  ruled  by  other 
than  Scandinavians.  No  other  European 
people  have  so  long  a  history  of  self-govern 
ment.  Our  great  Scandinavian  race  has  be 
sides  laid  the  foundations  of  two  of  the  might 
iest  empires  on  earth.  The  Norwegians  and 


312  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Danes  laid  the  foundation  of  the  British,  and 
the  Swedes  of  the  Russian  empire. 

"That  we,  the  sons  of  the  brave  and  hardy 
Northmen,  can  be  enslaved  alive  by  an  open 
and  visible  enemy,  is  incredible!  The  slave 
owners  do  not  want  us  to  go  down  south,  for 
they  know  we  would  talk  of  freedom  and  jus 
tice  to  the  slaves  and  in  time  produce  a  change 
of  opinion." 

At  the  entrance  of  the  Erie  canal,  our  bag 
gage  was  transferred  onto  the  canal  boat, 
which  was  tugged  by  horses  walking  al-mg 
the  side  of  the  canal  through  the  state  of  New 
York,  from  the  Hudson  river  to  Lake  Erie,  a 
distance  of  585  kilometers. 

Mr.  Danielson  and  his  family  were  very  sick 
on  the  whole  journey,  but  I  believe,  although 
I  was  not  sick,  I  had  as  hard  time  of  it  as 
they  had,  for  I  had  to  nurse  and  care  for  them 
all  the  way  from  Gothenborg,  in  Sweden,  until 
we  reached  our  point  of  destination  in  Wis 
consin. 

At  Buffalo  our  baggage  was  again  trans 
ferred  from  the  canal  boat  to  a  sail  ship,  which 
carried  us  across  Lake  Erie,  Lake  Huron  and 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
We  arrived  at  that  place  in  August,  but  I  can 
not  now  remember  on  what  "day.  We  were 


JOHN   EVENSON  MOLEE.  813 

not  in  the  habit  of  keeping  a  memorandum, 
which  we  ought  to  have  done  for  our  own  and 
others'  interest.  We  had  been  nearly  four 
months  on  the  voyage.  O,  what  a  long  and 
tedious  journey  we  had!  I  should  not  like  to 
endure  such  traveling  again.  On  Lake  Michi 
gan  the  wife  of  Halvor  Lonflok  Vinlete  was 
drowned.  At  Milwaukee  our  interpreter,  Mr. 
Jensen,  a  Dane,  drowned.  While  rowing  in  a 
little  boat  on  the  lake  the  wind  turned  it  over. 

At  Milwaukee  our  band  of  pioneers  spread 
out  to  different  parts  of  southern  Wisconsin. 
Some  went  to  Muskego,  while  others  went  to 
Yorkville  and  Jefferson  Prairie.  For  my  part 
I  remained  between  two  and  three  years  in 
Milwaukee. 

The  first  fall  and  winter  I  worked  in  the 
woods,  chopping,  teaming,  or  at  any  other  work 
I  could  find  to  do  to  earn  money  to  pay  Mr. 
Danielson  for  the  amount  he  advanced  for  my 
passage  to  America,  $47.  When  I  came  to  set 
tle  with  him  he  charged  me  but  little,  because 
I  had  nursed  his  sick  family  on  our  long 
journey. 

The  next  spring,  1840,  I  hired  out  to  run  a 
ferry-boat  across  the  Milwaukee  river  for 
Henry  D unbar,  who  was  agent  for  the  county, 
which  owned  the  ferry.  There  were  too  few 


314  .     NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

rich  men  at  that  time  to  monopolize  the  means 
of  public  conveyance,  so  the  people  were  com 
pelled  to  resort  to  public  co-operation  through 
the  collective  power  of  the  county. 

I  boarded  with  Mr.  Dunbar,  doing  such 
work,  mornings  and  evenings,  as  was  desired 
by  his  family  or  himself.  Dunbar  tended  to 
his  store  himself.  The  next  winter  after  the 
river  froze  over,  so  that  I  could  not  run  the 
ferry  boat,  I  started  again  for  the  woods  with 
two  good  axes. 

At  this  time  I  had  learned  to  talk  English 
very  well,  hearing  no  Norwegian  in  Mr.  Dun- 
bar's  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dunbar  and  the 
children  urged  me  to  stay  with  them  through 
the  winter  and  attend  the  public  school,  and 
to  do  a  little  chores  for  my  board.  I  w^as, 
however,  so  discouraged  by  the  English  sys 
tem  of  spelling  that  I  was  afraid  it  would  take 
more  time  to  master  it  than  I  could  spare.  I 
had  seen  and  heard  how  Dunbar's  children 
worked  year  after  year  to  learn  to  spell,  a 
thing  which  caused  no  trouble  in  Norway, 
where  they  spell  according  to  sound.  If  Dun- 
bar's  children,  thought  I,  require  so  much  time 
to  learn  to  spell  their  own  native  language, 
how  can  a  poor  foreigner  expect  to  master  the 
mystery  of  unphonetic  spelling?  I  preferred 


JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEB.  815 

chopping  to  spelling  and  to  reading  meaning 
less  stories  about  cats  and  dogs.  That  was 
nearly  all  they  learned  in  school  then.  Not 
one  word  was  read  about  how  to  take  care 
of  health,  about  etiquette,  the  proper  behavior 
in  society,  civil  government,  political  economy, 
logic,  theory  of  education,  or  singing. 
Knowledge  which  was  of  most  value  to  the 
children,  they  had  to  learn  outside  of  the 
school  room,  the  best  they  could,  but  many 
never  did  discover  what  knowledge  they  most 
needed  to  guide  themselves  through  life,  or 
how  to  enjoy  sweet  moments  of  cheering  song 
in  later  years. 

The  following  summer  I  hired  out  again  to 
run  the  same  ferry  boat  as  in  the  previous 
summer  for  advanced  wages,  but  another  man 
had  taken  the  contract  to  manage  the  ferry 
for  the  county.  His  name  was  William 
Bentley.  He  had  invested  too  heavily  in  lots 
and  land.  After  the  crisis  and  bank  failures 
of  1837,  real  estate  was  so  depressed  that  he 
could  not  sell  land  enough  to  meet  the  high 
interest,  and  I  lost  my  year's  wages,  for  he 
went  into  bankruptcy.  Money-loaners  took 
the  property. 

In  1842  I  went  to  Muskego,  where  I  worked 
out  for  Americans  to  earn  money  for  which  to 


316  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

buy  a  piece  of  land.  After  procuring  a  piece 
of  land  four  and  a  half  kilometers  west  from 
Reymert's  lake  or  about  eighteen  kilometers 
south  from  Waukesha,  Wis.,  I  married  Anne 
Jacobson  Einong  in  1844,  in  Even  Heg's  new 
home-sawed,  oak-frame  barn.  Another  couple 
was  married  before  the  same  altar  at  the  same 
time  by  Rev.  Clausen  from  Denmark.  There 
was  no  church  then,  which  I  can  remember. 
This  was  the  way  Mr.  Heg  had  of  dedicating 
his  new  barn  before  he  put  it  to  more  common 
use.  The  boards  had  been  sawed  at  Reymert's 
saw-mill,  about  two  or  three  kilometers  north 
on  the  east  bank  of  Reymert's  lake  (Silver  lake 
in  Waukesha  county). 

The  other  couple,  besides  Anne  and  myself, 
was  the  muscular  giant,  Hans  Tveito  (Twi-to), 
and  my  wife's  sister,  Oslaug. 

My  wife,  Anne,  was  a  good,  patient,  indus 
trious  woman  when  she  was  well,  but  she  was 
not  as  strong  as  her  sisters,  Oslaug  Tveito,  nor 
as  Cornelia  Heg,  wife  of  Colonel  Heg  of  the 
15th  Wisconsin  regiment,  nor  as  strong  as 
Gurina  Stangeland,  wife  of  Elias  Stangeland, 
editor  of  a  Norwegian  paper  in  Madison,  Wis. 
She  had  also  two  brothers,  John  and  Osten 
Jacobson  Einong. 

All  the  Jacobson  girls  married  noted  men, 


JOHN   EVENSON   MOLEE.  317 

except  my  dear  Anne,  who  married  me.  My 
wife  came  over  from  Tin  by  way  of  Drammen, 
in  Norway,  in  1843.  She  had  a  harder  time 
in  crossing  the  Atlantic  than  I  had.  The  ship 
was  thirteen  weeks  in  crossing,  and  fourteen 
persons  died  of  typhoid  fever  while  sailing 
over  the  Atlantic.  They  were  buried  in  that 
great  ocean.  Her  own  mother,  Anne,  and  her 
twin  sister,  Susana,  were  buried  in  the  sea. 
My  wife  was  often  sorry  she  came  to  the 
wilderness  of  Wisconsin,  for  her  father  had  a 
fine  farm  and  servants  in  the  old  country,  and 
could  have  lived  better  there.  Yet  the  "Amer 
ica  fever"  brought  them  to  the  west.  Her 
father  died  a  few  years  after  he  came  to  this 
country,  but  he  gave  all  his  children  a  small 
start,  which  made  their  life  here  a  little  easier 
than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  He  gave 
forty  acres  of  land  to  each,  and  also  a  few  dol 
lars  in  money,  which  he  had  brought  with  him 
from  Norway. 

As  soon  as  I  was  married,  I  built  a  log  house 
on  my  land,  4.7  meters  long,  4.1  meters  wide 
and  3.5  meters  high.  This  gave  us  a  good 
room  below  and  a  room  upstairs  for  beds  and 
clothing.  We  had  at  first  only  one  window 
toward  the  east,  consisting  of  twelve  window 
panes.  The  size  of  the  panes  was  of  the  old 


318  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

regulation,  namely,  20  by  25  centimeters,  the 
window  being  divided  into  two  halves. 

The  house  was  small,  but  my  wife  and  I  got 
along  well  with  it.  We  would  rather  have  a 
small  house  and  own  it  free  from  debt,  than 
to  be  the  slaves  of  a  money-loaner,  which 
might  take  away  from  us  both  house  and  land 
and  make  us  mere  renters. .  That  did  not 
agree  with  our  northern  ideas  of  true  inde 
pendence. 

The  pioneers  that  came  to  America  before 
1840,  I  believe  were  the  most  democratic  and 
self -helping  and  peaceable  that  ever  came  from 
Europe,  excepting  only  the  "Pilgrim  fathers" 
that  came  over  from  England  in  the  "May 
flower"  in  1620,  which,  by  the  way,  came  from  a 
district  in  England  largely  settled  by  Norse 
men. 

Historical  events  work  with  a  reflex  power 
on  the  feelings  of  descendants. 

While  the  Komans  in  the  South  were  forging 
fetters  to  enslave  mankind,  the  Scandinavians 
in  the  North  developed  institutions  and  senti 
ments  to  break  those  fetters.  In  the  old  North 
the  kings  had  to  obey  the  people  instead  of 
the  people  obeying  the  king.  There  arose  the 
system  of  trial  by  jury.  Without  the  influence 
of  the  Scandinavians,  there  would  have  been 


JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEE.  319 

no  Magna  Oharta  in  England,  and  probably  no 
"Declaration  of  Independence''9  in   America. 

In  Normandy,  in  France,  the  Scandinavians 
were  the  cause  of  the  institution  of  knighthood, 
which    soon    spread    over   Europe,   to    defend 
woman  and  the  oppressed.     The  great  French 
writer,  Montesquieu,  says:       "What  ought  to 
recommend  the  Scandinavians  to  us  above  all 
other  people  is,  that    they  are    the  source  of 
nearly  all  the  liberty  among  men."       In  the 
"thirty  years'  war"  between  Catholics  and  Prot 
estants,  they  determined    the  success    of  the 
latter,  who  were  struggling  for  religious  free 
dom  in  Germany,  and  indirectly  for  religious 
freedom  in   other  countries.       The  Scandina 
vians  were  also  the  first  to  introduce  "courts  of 
conciliation"  without  the  assistance  of  lawyers, 
and  Norwegians  were  the  first  to  abolish  the 
corrupting  order  of  nobility.     The   Scandina 
vians  have  been  and  will  be  a  leaven  of  pop 
ular  rights  wherever  they  settle.     If  we  couple 
these  truths  with  the  fact  that  they  have  the 
largest  proportion  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  in 
stead  of  crowding  into  overflowing  cities,  we 
can  safely  say  that  thev  are  the  best  immi 
grants    the  United    States  has  received,    not 
even  excepting  the  Scotch  and  Germans. 

It  would  have  a  very  wholesome  influence 


320  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

upon  the  intellectual  life  of  the  United  States, 
if  they  would  study  more  Anglo  Saxon  and 
Icelandic  instead  of  the  foreign,  time-wasting, 
arbitrary  and  useless  Latin.  We  have  as 
grand  a  mythology  in  the  North,  as  the  Bo- 
mans  in  the  South.  Why  go  over  the  river 
after  water?  We  'shall  not  understand  Eng 
lish  or  Norwegian  better  by  mastering  Latin 
declensions  and  conjugations.  It  would  be 
more  democratic  and  useful  to  master  a  great 
modern  language,  and  more  permanent,  life- 
guiding  science,  instead  of  memorizing  the 
foolish  exceptions  to  Latin  nouns  and  verbs, 
soon  forgotten. 

After  I  had  built  my  log  house  in  1845,  I 
exchanged  work  with  some  of  the  most  dex 
trous  neighbors,  who  made  for  me  bedsteads, 
tables,  chairs,  floor,  shingles,  sleigh,  truck- 
wagon  (from  round  logs),  harrow,  bureau,  cup 
board,  loom,  spinning-wheel,  shoes  and  cloth 
ing.  We  exchanged  produce  for  store  goods. 
We  had  Norwegian  schools  and  gave  the 
teacher  a  certificate  ourselves. 

We  conducted  our  religious  meetings  in 
our  own  democratic  way.  We  appointed  a 
foreman  and  he  requested  some  one  to  read 
from  a  book  of  sermons.  This  book  was  our 
preacher  at  first.  We  prayed,  exhorted  and 


JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEE.  821 

sang  among  ourselves  and  even  baptized  our 
babies  ourselves,  for  we  had  no  regular  min 
ister  at  first,  but  this  want  was  soon  supplied. 
In  1849  was  the  year  of  the  "Asiatic  cholera" 
in  the  United  States  and  Europe.  It  was  the 
awfulest  summer  I  have  experienced  in  my 
life.  By  this  time  there  were  a  great  number 
of  our  people  in  Muskego.  When  the  epidemic 
cholera  struck  our  settlement,  there  were,  at 
one  time,  only  seven  families,  all  well,  so  that 
they  could  get  away  to  help  their  neighbors. 
From  three  to  four  persons  died  every  day. 
Hans  Tveito  and  myself  had  all  we  could  do, 
to  carry  the  dead  out  of  the  houses  and  haul 
them  to  the  grave  with  our  oxen,  while  others 
dug  the  graves.  No  ceremony  took  place,  and 
there  were  no  glittering  coffins  with  silver 
knobs  and  handles.  We  simply  rolled  a  white 
sheet  around  the  dead,  unwashed  and  un- 
shaved;  and  then  we  placed  him  or  her  into  a 
rough  board  box,  unplaned  and  unpainted,  and 
hauled  them  to  a  spot  selected  for  a  grave 
yard,  called  "the  Indian  hill"  (Indiehaugen); 
there  we  laid  them  to  rest.  It  was  the  best 
we  could  do,  God  knows.  We  cared  for  them 
the  best  we  could,  while  living,  but  when  dead, 
they  did  not  need  more  care. 
21 


322  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

I  have  often  thought  since,  when  behold 
ing  a  husband,  wife,  father,  mother,  child  or 
neighbor  buried  amid  great  pomp  and  expense, 
alas!  if  some  of  that  good  will  had  been  shown 
to  the  dead  while  living  and  the  rest  given  to 
the  poor,  how  many  hearts  would  have  been 
made  happier,  instead  of  being  ruined  by  vain 
show. 

I  shudder  when  I  think  of  how  we  had  to 
go  into  the  catching  cholera  houses  to  carry 
out  the  dead  day  after  day.  We  expected  to 
be  struck  down  by  the  fell  disease  every  mo 
ment,  yet  we  stood  by  our  post  of  duty  like 
true  soldiers  of  peace,  live  or  die. 

I  have  not  much,  more  to  relate,  that  is,  of 
interest  to  your  readers. 

I  lived  in  Muskego  until  1855,  when  I  moved 
to  Blue  Mounds,  Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  35 
kilometers  west  from  Madison.  In  Blue 
Mounds,  I  lived  on  a  farm  of  128  acres  until 
1873,  when  I  again  moved  to  Bloomfield,  Fill- 
more  county,  Minnesota,  where  I  bought  an 
other  farm.  In  1876  I  lost  the  best  friend 
I  had  on  earth,  my  beloved  wife,  Anne.  She 
died  of  cancer  in  the  right  breast  at  the  age 
of  54.  We  had  a  comfortable  room  for  her, 
and  she  received  all  the  assistance  which  I 
and  others  could  give  her,  but  the  disease 


JOHN  EVENSON  MOLEE.          323 

proved  incurable,  so  that  the  best  medical  aid 
and  nursing  proved  in  vain.  After  my  wife 
died,  I  sold  my  place  and  went  to  live  with  my 
daughter  Anne,  who  is  named  after  her 
mother.  She  is  married  to  Mads  Holm,  a  Dane. 
Both  my  daughter  and  son-in-law,  Mrs.  and 
Mr.  Holm,  are  very  kind  to  me,  for  which  I 
am  very  thankful.  Though  I  will  be  eighty 
years  old  next  spring,  I  am  yet  in  good  health, 
and  enjoy  highly  to  talk  with  both  old  and 
young  friends,  and  hear  what  is  going  on 
around  me,  especially  with  regard  to  religious 
movements  in  the  Lutheran  church.  This  is, 
of  course,  the  greatest  of  all  Protestant  denom 
inations,  and  the  strongest  fort  against  Cath 
olicism  both  in  America  and  Europe.  There 
is  one  thing  which  recommends  this  church  to 
me  above  all  others,  considered  purely  from  an 
educational  point  alone;  namely,  the  confirma 
tion.  About  the  age  of  14,  all  boys  and  girls 
have,  for  the  last  three  hundred  years  been  re 
quired,  by  the  Lutheran  church,  to  learn  to 
read,  by  requiring  them  to  learn  their  cate 
chism  and  a  number  of  hymns  by  heart,  and  to 
answer  questions  from  bible  history,  in  order 
to  be  confirmed  in  the  church.  This  could 
not  be  done,  unless  they  first  learned  to  read; 
hence,  long  before  general  public  schools  were 


324  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

organized,  this  church  alone  served  as  a  gen 
eral  teacher  of  reading  and  singing.  For  this 
reason  the  Lutheran  countries  are  the  most 
intelligent  in  the  world  according  to  official 
statistics.  Ninety-seven  per  cent,  of  the  peo 
ple  of  such  Lutheran  countries,  as  Norway, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Holland  and 
Switzerland,  over  twelve  years  old,  can  read. 
The  Lutheran  church  has  done  the  most  for 
religious  freedom,  but  it  was  also  through 
Lutheran  influence  that  compulsory  education 
was  introduced  into  the  world.  All  Lutheran 
countries  have  compulsory  education.  I  be 
lieve  it  will  degrade  the  Scandinavians  as  a 
rule,  rather  than  elevate  them,  to  leave  this 
great  education  and  freedom-loving  church. 
It  may  be  possible  to  add  more  educational 
features  to  it.  Every  minister  might  organize 
more  singing  societies  and  literary  clubs  and 
introduce  more  English  speaking  and  more 
historical  lecturing.  As  soon  as  possible, 
let  us  increase  "  sweet  reasonableness." 

I  have  three  children  now  living;  namely, 
my  oldest  son,  and  my  present  secretary,  Elias, 
was  born  January  3rd,  1845.  Halvor  and  Anne 
were  born  December  7th,  1849.  Halvor  is  only 
three  hours  older  than  Anne. 

My  dear  professor  and  countryman!    In  the 


JOHN   EVENSON   MOLEE.  325 

beginning  of  my  letter  to  you,  I  started  in  as 
a  northern  democratic  viking.  I  should  like 
to  give  you  another  piece  of  old  typical  Scan 
dinavian  sentiment  to  give  to  your  younger 
readers;  a  child-like  primitive  Scandinavian 
sentiment,  such  as  I  have  to  give.  I  believe 
in  the  "Monroe  doctrine"  with  my  whole  na 
ture.  It  is  natural  for  the  great  freedom  lov 
ing  Scandinavian  people  to  favor  self  govern 
ment  among  all  civilized  people.  Canada,  our 
enlightened  neighbor  on  the  north,  is  yet  un 
der  foreign  bondage.  The  queen  of  England 
appoints  the  governor  general,  and  he  ap 
points  all  the  senators,  all  the  judges  of  the 
supreme  court  and  all  the  governors  of  the 
provinces;  now,  if  the  queen  in  another  part 
of  the  world  appoints  half  of  the  law-making 
and  the  whole  interpreting  power,  what  is  the 
rest  worth  to  the  people,  except  for  false  show? 
If  Scandinavian  writers  have  a  chance  to  say 
a  good  word  for  the  independence  of  Canada, 
I  hope  they  will  do  so. 

Again,  let  us  speak  and  write  against  a  per 
petual  bonding  of  the  United  States.  Let  us 
pay  our  debts,  and  after  that  live  within  our 
yearly  incomes. 

My  last  word  to  my  children  and  countrymen 
is,  that  I  hope  they  will  continue  to  honor 


326  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

themselves  and  Scandinavia  by  being  a  sober, 
industrious,  intelligent  and  moral  people. 

I  shall  soon  go  away  to  meet  my  dear  Anne! 
She  always  appears  young  to  me. 

Your  well-wishing 

JOHN  EVEN^ON  MOLEE. 


XXI. 

The  Sixth  Norwegian  Settlement. 

The  sixth  Norwegian  settlement  in  America 
and  the  third  to  be  founded  in  Wisconsin  was 
the  now  large  and  prosperous  one  in  the  east 
half  of  Dane  county.  It  is  the  so-called  Kosh- 
konong  settlement,  taking  its  name  from  Kosh- 
konong  lake,  and  particularly  from  Koshko- 
nong  creek,  and  it  is  still  the  most  widely 
known  as  well  as  the  wealthiest  rural  Norwe 
gian  settlement  in  America. 

The  first  Norwegians  located  there  in  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1840.  Those  who  lo 
cated  there  that  year  were  Gunnul  Olson  Vin- 
deg,  Bjorn  Anderson  Kvelve  (the  author's 
father),  Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld,  Thor- 
stein  Olson  Bjaadland  (one  of  the  sloopers),  Lars 


THE  SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  327 

Olson  Dugstad,  Nels  Siverson  Gilderhus,  Nels 
Larson  Bolstad  and  Anders  Finno. 

It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  all  the 
Norwegians  here  mentioned  visited  Koshko- 
nong  for  the  first  time  in  1840,  but  my  friend, 
Nels  A.  Lee,  of  Deerfield,  Wis.,  has  investigated 
the  subject  pretty  thoroughly,  and  he  has  con 
vinced  me  that  Nels  Siverson  Gilderhus,  Nels 
Larson  Bolstad  and  a  third  person,  who  did 
not  settle  there,  visited  the  towns  of  Christiana 
and  Deerfield  somewhat  late  in  the  fall  of  1839. 

Nels  A.  Lee,  himself  a  Vossing,  published  in 
June,  1894,  a  very  interesting  article  on  the 
early  emigration  from  Voss,  Bergens  Stift,  in 
Norway.  In  this  article  he  makes  the  claim, 
and  I  think  proves  it  satisfactorily,  that  men 
from  Voss  were  the  first  to  plant  their  feet  on 
Koshkonong  soil,  but  before  discussing  this  sub 
ject  any  further,  I  will  make  a  digression  and 
take  a  look  at  the  early  emigration  from  Voss, 
and  in  the  presentation  of  the  matter  I  shall 
be  largely  guided  by  Mr.  Lee's  article. 

Nels  Kothe  and  his  wife  Torbjor  left  Voss 
for  America  in  1836,  and  they  were  the  first 
to  emigrate  from  that  part  of  Norway.  They 
spent  a  couple  of  years  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and 
then  moved  to  Chicago,  where,  so  far  as  I  can 


828  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

make  out,  they  remained  the  balance  of  their 
lives. 

In  1837  Odd  J.  Himle,' Baard  Haugen,  Kol- 
bein    Olson    Saue,    Stark    Olson    Sane,    Halle 
Vsete,    Nils  Larson  Bolstad,    John  Haldorson 
Bjorgo  and  Ole  Dyvik,  emigrated  from  Voss. 
Himle  and  Haugen,  and  probably  also  Bjorgo 
and  Dyvik,  went  at  once  to  the  Fox  River  set 
tlement,    while  Kolbein  and  Stark    Saue  and 
Halle  Vsete  went  to  the  unfortunate  Beaver 
Creek  settlement,  settling  in  that  part  of  it 
that  was  located  in  Indiana.     Halle  Vsete,  his 
wife   and    a   grown-up   daughter,   died   there. 
Kolbein  and  Stark  Saue*  finally  came  to  Kosh- 
konong  in  1843,  and  I  believe  died  there.  Stark 
(Styrk)  Saue's  youngest  son,  known  as  N.  O. 
Stark,  is  an  inventor  of  note,  and  is  at  present 
the  superintendent  of  the  Fuller  &  Johnson 
Manufacturing    company,    in    Madison,    Wis. 
Odd  J.  Himle  lived  in  the  Fox  River  settlement 
and  in  Chicago  until  1844,  when  he  made  a 
visit  to  Norway.     He  spent  the  winter  there, 

*  Stark  Olson  Saue  was  born  at  Voss,  Sep 
tember  25,  1814,  and  died  in  Dane  county,  De 
cember  5,  1893.  His  wife,  whose  name  was 
Ellen  Olson  Rekve,  was  born  in  Voss,  July  16, 
1816,  and  died  in  Dane  county,  October  8,  1882. 
They  were  married  in  America. 


THE  SIXTH  SETTLEMENT  829 

and  married  Miss  Marie  L.  Jermo,  and  re 
turned  to  America  in  1845.  Upon  his  return 
to  America  he  settled  on  Spring  Prairie  north 
of  Madison,  Wis.,  and  resided  there  on  his 
farm  until  1890,  when  he  sold  the  farm  and 
moved  to  De  Forest,  Dane  county,  and  died 
there  in  May,  1893. 

What  became  of  Ole  Dyvik  I  do  not  know, 
but  Mis  Larson  Bolstad  and  John  Haldorson 
Bjorgo  appear  among  the  first  settlers  on  Kosh- 
konong. 

In  1838  Knud  Lydvo,  Ole  Lydvo,  Stephen  K. 
Gilderhus  and  Lars  Jerstad  emigrated  from 
Voss.  Knud  and  Ole  Lydvo  and  Lars  Jerstad 
settled  in  Missouri,  no  doubt  in  Klcng  Peer- 
son's  settlement  in  Shelby  county,  while  S.  K. 
Gilderhus  remained  a  year  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
then  removed  to  Chicago,  and  finally  settled  on 
Koshkonong  in  1844. 

In  1839  we  find  the  following  emigrants  from 
Voss:  Ole  K.  Gilderhus,  Anfin  Leidal,  Kuud 
Gjostein,  Nils  Lydvo,  Lars  Ygre,  Anders  Flage, 
Anders  Nelson  Braekke  and  wife,  Knud  Brsekke 
and  wife,  Anna  Gilderhus,  Anders  Fenno,  Lars 
Dugstad,  Anna  Bakketun  (afterwards  Mrs. 
Nichols),  Magne  Bystol,  Lars  Davidson  Eekve 
and  Nils  S.  Gilderhus.  Nils  Lydvo  went  to  his 
brothers  in  Shelby  county,  Mo.  Anna  Gilder- 


330  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

hus  was  the  sister  of  Nels  A.  Lee's  mother. 
Lars  Dugstad  was  born  in  Voss  in  1807,  and 
died  in  Albion,  Wis.,  in  1863.  His  wife,  whom 
he  married  in  the  fifties,  is  still  living  in  Cam 
bridge,  Wis.  From  the  records  it  appears  that 
this  party  landed  in  New  York,  July  8,  1839. 
L.  D.  Rekve,  N.  S.  Gilderhus,  Anfin  Leidal,  and 
Anders  Finno  went  first  to  the  Fox  River  set 
tlement,  and  then  to  Koshkonong.  The  rest  of 
this  party  remained  in  Chicago.  Of  this  com 
pany  Lars  Davidson  Kekve  still  lives  in  Deer- 
field,  Dane  county,  Wis. 

Lars  Davidson  Kekve  worked  the  first  year 
on  a  steamer  plying  between  Chicago  and  St. 
Joseph,  Mich.  In  the  fall  of  1840  he,  in  com 
pany  with  Nils  and  Ole  Gilderhus,  went  first 
to  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement,  and  then  to  Kosh 
konong.  On  reaching  Albion,  they  stopped 
over  night  at  the  house  of  Thorstein  Olson 
Bjaadland,  who  had  not  yet  returned  to  Illinois 
for  the  winter.  Thorstein  Olson,  who  was  a 
shoemaker,  mended  Lars  Davidson's  shoes  for 
him.  When  they  reached  the  northern  part 
of  the  town  of  Christiana,  a  log  house  had  been 
built  there  by  the  three  Vossings  who  settled 
there  in  the  spring  or  summer  of  1840,  and  a 
small  patch  of  ground  had  been  cultivated. 
Lars  Davidson  Kekve  bought  a  piece  of  land, 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  331 

but  did  not  settle  there  before  a  couple  of  years 
later.  He  is  now  the  oldest  Norwegian  land 
purchaser  living  on  Koshkonong. 

In  the  winter  of  1839  there  was  a  party  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Gilderhus  in  Voss,  and  one 
man  read  aloud  out  of  Ole  Rynning's  book. 
All  listened  attentively.  It  is  said  that  wher 
ever  Ole  Rynning's  book  was  read  anywhere 
in  Norway,  people  listened  as  attentively  as 
if  they  were  in  church.  Several  Vossings  re 
solved  to  emigrate  that  year,  and  in  obedience 
to  instructions  in  Rynning's  book  all  took  guns 
or  rifles  with  them  to  be  prepared  for  all  the 
wild  game  they  expected  to  find  in  America. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Rynning's  book  also 
found  its  way  to  Voss,  where  it  had  an  im 
portant  influence  on  emigration.  In  this  con 
nection  it  may  be  repeated  that  a  lay  preacher 
had  brought  a  copy  of  one  of  Gjert  Hovlaud's 
letters  to  Voss,  and  it  was  the  reading  of  this 
letter  that  induced  Nils  Rothe,  Nils  Bolstad 
and  John  H.  Bjorgo  to  emigrate  in  1836  and 
1837. 

FOP  the  year  1840  Mr.  Lee  names  the  follow 
ing  emigrants  from  Voss:  Knud  J.  Hylle,  Ole 
8.  Gilderhus,  Knud  Eokne,  Mads  Sonve,  Baard 
Nyre,  B.  Rohve,  Torstein  Saue  and  wife  and 
their  son  Gulleik,  Lars  Saue  and  wife,  Klas 


332  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Grimestad  and  wife,  Arne  Orland  and  wife,  and 
Lars  Kothe.  All  these  settled  in  Chicago. 
The  ship  in  which  they  came  was  commanded 
by  Captain  Ankerson.  Mr.  Lee  also  names  the 
principal  emigrants  from  Voss  for  the  years 
1841,  1843,  1845,  1846,  1849  and  1850,  but  they 
do  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  volume. 

In  the  town  of  Christiana,  Magne  Bystol 
and  Anders  Finno  are  to  be  counted  among 
the  pioneer  settlers.  In  Deerfield,  Dane 
county,  N.  Gilderhus  was  the  first  to  purchase 
land,  but  Nils  Bolstad  built  the  first  house 
there  in  1841.  His  wife  Anna,  the  sister  of 
Gunnul  Vindeg,  was  at  that  time  the  only 
white  woman  in  that  town.  Nils  Gilderhus 
and  Magne  Bystol  lived  in  a  cellar  a  couple  of 
miles  west  of  Cambridge  for  two  years,  and 
Nels  A.  Lee,  then  a  little  child,  with  his  par 
ents,  Anders  N.  Lee  and  wife,  were  accommo 
dated  in  that  same  cellar  on  their  arrival  in 
1841. 

Among  the  descendants  of  Vossings  who 
have  become  more  or  less  prominent  in  Amer 
ica,  I  may  here  take  occasion  to  mention 
Knute  Nelson,  now  of  Minnesota.  He  has 
served  three  terms  in  congress,  has  twice  been 
elected  governor  of  Minnesota,  and  in  January, 
1895,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  his  state  in 


THE  SIXTH.  SETTLEMENT.  888 

the  United  States  senate.  He  has  the  honor 
of  being  the  first  of  the  Norwegian  immigrants 
to  occupy  the  above  offices  in  America.  While 
born  in  Norway,  he  was  brought  up  and  edu 
cated  in  Dane  county,  Wis.,  and  old  Koshko- 
nong  claims  him  as  one  of  its  most  distin 
guished  sons. 

Knut  Bergh  (Berge),  who,  until  his  death, 
was  a  most  competent  and  highly  beloved  pro 
fessor   in  Luther   College   at   Decorah,    Iowa; 
Lars  S.  Reque,  also  a  professor  for  many  years 
at  Luther  College,  and  now  United  States  con 
sul  at  Rotterdam;  Victor  F.  Lawson,  the  far- 
famed  publisher  of  the  Record  and  News  of  Chi 
cago;  C.  R.  Matson,  who  has  held  the  office  of 
sheriff  and  other  prominent  positions  in  Chi 
cago;   John  Anderson,  the    energetic   founder 
and    publisher    of    Skandinaven,    the    widely 
known  Norwegian  newspaper,  and  Rev.  S.  S. 
Reque,  the  well-known  Lutheran  minister  in 
Spring  Grove,  Minnesota,  are  all  Vossings  by 
birth   or   descent,    and  this   does   not  by   any 
means    exhaust   the    catalogue    of   prominent 
Vossings  in  America.     While  the  Vossings  can 
not  claim  more  than  one-half  of  the  credit  for 
having  produced  Victor  F.  Lawson,  his  mother 
not  being  from  Voss,  they  square  the  account 
by  claiming  one-half  of  the  credit  of  bringing 


334  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

forth  M.  N.  Johnson,  member  of  congress  from 
North  Dakota.  The  father  of  M.  N.  Johnson 
came  from  Thelenaarken,  but  his  mother  from 
Voss. 

After  this  digression  we  may  return  to  the 
founding  of  the  Norwegian  settlement  on 
Koshkonong. 

In  1839  Odd  J.  Himle,  Nils  Larson  Bolstad 
and  Magne  Bottolfson  Bystolen  were  living  in 
the  Fox  River  settlement,  and  Nils  Siverson 
Gilderhus  had  just  arrived  there  from  Norway. 
Bolstad,  Gilderhus  and  Bystolen  were  anxious 
to  secure  farms  for  themselves,  and  so  they 
hired  Odd  J.  Hiinle  to  go  with  them  to  Wis 
consin,  where  good  land  was  to  be  had.  Magne 
Bystolen  was  prevented  by  sickness  from  go 
ing,  but  it  was  agreed  that  the  rest  of  the  party 
should  select  land  for  him,  too.  The  three 
others  started  from  La  Salle  county,  111.,  in 
the  fall  of  1839,  say  in  September,  or  more 
probably  in  October,  and  went  first  to  Mil 
waukee,  and  then  proceeded  west  to  Dane 
county.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  they  went 
all  the  way  on  foot.  They  stopped  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  present  town  of  Christi 
ana,  and  after  looking  the  ground  over  for  a 
couple  of  days,  they  then  selected  land  a  short 
distance  northwest  from  the  present  Cam- 


THE  SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  335 

bridge,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town  of 
Christiana.  Thus  these  three  Vossings  appear 
to  be  the  first  three  Norwegians  who  visited 
Koshkonong.  They  selected  120  acres  of  land, 
viz.,  forty  for  Nils  S.  Gilderhus,  forty  for  Nils 
Larson  Bolstad  and  forty  for  Magne  Bystolen. 
Odd  Himle,  who  had  acted  as  their  guide,  did 
not  select  any  land  for  himself,  and  we  have 
seen  that  he  did  not  settle  on  Koshkonong. 
The  three  men  left  Koshkonong  as  soon  as  they 
had  selected  their  land,  proceeded  to  Milwau 
kee,  where  Mr.  Lee  claims  they  made  entry  of 
the  land  at  the  land  office,  and  then  spent  the 
winter  in  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement. 

Early  the  next  spring  N.  S.  Gilderhus,  N.  L. 
Bolstad,  Magne  Bystol  and  Anders  Fenno  left 
the  Fox  Kiver  settlement  and  moved  up  to 
Koshkonong.  There  they  built  on  Magne  Bys- 
tol's  land  a  cellar  or  dugout  in  the  face  of  a 
bank,  and  in  this  they  were  all  sheltered  dur 
ing  the  first  year.  Mr.  Lee  thinks  this  was  the 
first  house  built  by  Norwegians  in  the  town 
of  Christiana.  For  my  part  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg  built  the  first 
house  in  that  township,  and  I  shall  give  my 
reasons  later  on.  The  first  township  north  of 
Christiana  is  Deerfield,  and  there  the  first  Nor 
wegian  to  select  land  and  build  a  house  was 


336  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Nils  L.  Bolstad.  In  1841  he  married,  as  stated, 
Anna,,  a  sister  of  Gunnul  O.  Vindeg,  and  the 
same  year  he  built  his  house  in  Deerfield,  where 
his  wife  was  the  first  white  woman.  Nils  Gil- 
derhus  and  Magne  Bystol  lived  in  the  dugout 
two  winters,  and  with  them  Nels  A.  Lee  and  his 
parents  found  shelter  on  their  arrival  on  Kosh- 
konong  in  December,  1841. 

In  my  opinion  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg  was 
the  first  Norwegian  to  build  a  house  and  actu 
ally  locate  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Chris 
tiana,  and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  make 
out,  he  was  the  first  Norwegian  to  settle  in 
Dane  county.  He  came  to  America  in  1839 
from  Rolloug  in  Numedal,  where  he  was  born 
August  16,  1808.  He  was  to  have  come  with 
Ansten  Nattestad  in  the  "Emelia,"  but  he  was 
detained  by  the  sickness  of  his  child,  and  so 
came  on  later  by  another  route.  He  found  his 
way  by  the  usual  immigrant  route  from  New 
York  to  Chicago,  and  from  there  he  came  on  to 
Jefferson  Prairie,  near  Beloit,  where  the  ma 
jority  of  the  Nattestad  company  had  settled. 
There  he  spent  the  first  winter,  but  early  in 
the  spring  of  1840  he  built  or  bought  or  bor 
rowed  a  boat,  and  in  it  he  and  a  companion 
by  name  Gjermund  Knudson  Sunde,  who  also 
had  come  from  Numedal  in  1839,  navigated  up 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  337 

Kock  river,  and,  as  the  story  goes,  up  Koshko- 
nong  lake  and  Koshkonong  creek  into  the  town 
of  Christiana,  and  so  found  the  parcel  of  land 
where  he  located  and  lived  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  October  22,  1846.  He  wras 
killed  by  an  accident.  Gjermund  K.  Sunde  also 
selected  forty  acres  of  land,  which  he  after 
wards  sold  to  Ole  Lier.  Gjerrnund  Sunde  lost 
his  reason,  and  in  this  condition  he  disap 
peared,  and  doubtless  soon  perished. 

Guiinul  Olson  had  two  sisters  and  a  brother 
who  came  to  America  a  year  or  two  later.  One 
of  his  sisters,  Berit,  married  a  Swede,  John  G. 
Smith,  who  pretended  to  be  both  minister  and 
preacher.  His  wife  soon  died,  and  John  G. 
Smith  left  about  1844.  He  went  first  to  Chi 
cago,  but  soon  disappeared  from  that  city,  and 
has  not  since  been  heard  from.  The  other 
sister,  Anna,  married  Nils  Larson  Bolstad,  as 
stated  above.  The  brother's  name  was  Hel- 
leik,  who,  in  company  with  Lars  Kvendalen 
and  a  man  called  Nils  Hailing,  made  counter 
feit  Norwegian  paper  money  in  the  early 
forties,  and  went  to  Norway  with  it,  where  they 
were  arrested,  found  guilty  and  put  in  prison. 
The  township  in  which  Gunnul  Vindeg  settled 
in  1840  contained  at  the  time  less  than  a  dozen 


338  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

settlers,  and  as  several  Norwegians  soon  lo 
cated  there  it  was  called  Christiana  (should 
have  been  Christiania),  after  the  capital  of  Nor 
way,  on  the  suggestion  of  Gunnul  Olson  Vin- 
deg. 

Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg  and  Gjerinund  .Sunde 
returned  with  their  boat  to  Beloit,  and  soon 
after  we  find  Gunnul  moving  with  his  wife  in  a 
covered  wagon  from  Jefferson  Prairie  to  Kosh- 
konong.  He  stopped  at  Milton,  Wis.,  on  his 
way  for  repairs.  Ezra  Goodrich,  of  Milton,  and 
Jones,  of  Ft  Atkinson,  visited  him  in  his  home 
early  in  the  summer  of  1840.  They  were 
caught  in  a  heavy  rain  storm  and  drove  to 
Gunnul  Olson's  shanty,  where  they  stopped. 
Ezra  Goodrich  says:  "We  stayed  at  Gunnul 
Olson's  and  got  dinner.  It  was  the  first  Norwe 
gian  dinner  we  had  ever  eaten,  but  we  were  as 
hungry  as  a  wolf  and  we  don't  remember  to 
have  relished  a  better  meal.  They  had  only 
fried  pork,  warm  biscuits  and  coffee.  The 
coffee  was  made  in  a  little  copper  kettle  that 
was  as  round  as  a  ball.  The  shanty  had  but 
one  small  room  with  a  bed  in  the  corner,  and 
a  ladder  up  to  a  little  IOWT  attic  under  the  roof. 
It  had  a  little  stall  attached  to  one  end  for  the 
cow.  Mr.  Gunnul  Olson  was  subsequently 
killed  by  a  loaded  wagon  tipping  over  him." 


THE  SIXTH   SETTLEMENT.  339 

My  good  friend,  Ezra  Goodrich,  of  Milton, 
makes  a  mistake  when  in  an  Edgerton  paper 
he  says  he  made  the  above  visit  to  Gunnnl  Vin- 
deg's  in  1839,  as  it  is  a  well-established  fact 
that  Gunnul  did  not  leave  Norway  before  the 
summer  of  1839. 

Much  has  been  written  about  Gunnul  Vin- 
deg's  journey  by  boat  from  Beloit  to  Kosh- 
konong,  and  many  objections  have  been  raised. 
It  is  argued  that  he  could  not  take  his  family, 
household  effects  and  cattle  with  him  in  a  boat, 
and  that  the  journey  on  foot  would  have  been 
much  easier  ancl  would  have  taken  much  less 
time.  The  answer  to  the  first  objection  is 
that  he  naturally  left  his  family  and  cattle  on 
Jefferson  Prairie  until  he  had  found  the  land 
he  proposed  to  settle  on.  He  actually  did  first 
select  his  future  home  and  then  went  back  with 
the  boat  and  took  his  family  and  belongings 
in  a  wagon  by  way  of  Milton.  In  reply  to  the 
second  objection  it  may  be  said  that  lie  prob 
ably  started  from  Beloit  earl}7  in  the  spring, 
when  the  low  lands  would  be  more  or  less 
flooded  with  water.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  he  did  not  know  the  country  into  w.hich 
he  was  to  penetrate.  He  naturally  wanted  to 
select  land  near  some  stream,  where  he  could 
be  sure  of  getting  water,  timber  and  meadow, 


340  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

and  by  going  up  a  river  in  a  boat  he  would 
naturally  feel  more  certain  of  finding  what  he 
looked  for,  and  under  all  circumstances  he 
would  be  more  sure  not  to  get  lost  in  an  un 
known  wilderness.  In  the  boat  he  could  at 
any  time  easily  find  his  way  back  to  Beloit,  the 
place  he  started  from.  The  more  I  think  of 
it,  the  more  it  seems  to  me  that  the  most  pru 
dent  thing  was  to  go  up  Rock  riVer  by  boat. 
None  of  the  old  settlers  on  Koshkonong  ever 
saw  this  boat,  and  this  has  been  used  as  an 
argument  against  its  existence.  It  goes  al 
most  without  saying,  that  when  Gunnul  and 
Gjermund  had  come  all  the  way  up  to  the 
present  town  of  Christiana  against  the  cur 
rent,  it  would  be  mere  pastime  to  go  back  in 
the  same  boat,  in  the  first  place,  because  it 
would  be  down  stream,  and  in  the  second 
place,  because  they  would  not  have  a  moment's 
anxiety  about  finding  the  way. 

And  now  as  to  actual  evidence.  There  is  a 
son  of  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg  still  living  on 
Koshkonong.  His  name  is  Ole  Gunnulson,  and 
he  is  a  man  of  great  intelligence  and  most  ex 
cellent  character.  He  writes  me  that  Gjer 
mund  Sunde  talked  with  Lars  Lier  about  this 
journey  by  boat  and  told  him  that  they  had 
tied  the  boat  a  little  below  the  Anixstad  ford, 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  341 

where  the  Funkeli  bridge  was  afterwards 
built.  Lars  Lier  made  this  statement  to  Ole 
Gunnulson.  Halvor  Kravig,  an  old  settler, 
says  that  Gunnul  Vindeg  pointed  out  a  place 
a  little  below  where  Henrik  Lien  now  lives,  as 
the  spot  where  he  tied  the  boat.  There  is  no 
objection  to  this  conflict  in  the  evidence.  They 
probably  first  tied  the  boat  where  Gjermund 
says  they  left  it,  and  then  moved  it  to  the  other 
place  at  the  mouth  of  a  little  brook,  which 
led  them  to  the  land  which  Gunnul  bought. 
Jens  P.  Vehus,  who  was  Ole  Gunnulson's  uncle, 
being  a  brother  of  Gunnul  Vindeg's  wife,  and 
a  neighbor,  reports  that  Gunnul  had  told  him 
how  many  difficulties  they  had  had  to  contend 
with  in  rowing  up  the  creek.  They  had  found 
obstacles  in  the  form  of  windfalls  across  the 
creek,  and  they  had  been  obliged  to  use  the 
axe  to  get  these  windfalls  out  of  the  way.  My 
brother  Andrew  is  inclined  to  doubt  this  boat 
episode,  but  he  has  not  had  the  opportunity  of 
examining  the  evidence,  which,  to  my  mind,  is 
entirely  satisfactory. 

We  have  now  seen  that  the  Vossings  visited 
the  northeastern  part  of  Christiana  in  the  fall 
of  1839,  and  that  Nils  Siverson  Gilderhus,  An 
ders  Finno,  Nils  Larson  Bolstad  and  Magne 
Bottolfson  Bystol  actually  settled  there  in  the 


342  NORWEGIAN    IMMIGRATION. 

spring  or  summer  of  1840.  We  have  also  seen 
that  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg,  from  Numedal, 
visited  the  southeastern  part  of  Christiana 
early  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  settled  there  as 
soon  as  he  could  bring  his  family  from 
Jefferson  Prairie,  and  we  are  thus  prepared  to 
show  how  a  third  group  of  Norwegians  settled 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Albion. 

That  same  spring  (1840)  Bjorn  Anderson 
Kvelve,  Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld,  Thor- 
stein  Olson  Bjaadland,  Lars  Dugstad,  Lars 
Scheie  and  Amund  Anderson  Kossaland, 
formed  a  party  to  go  in  search  of  land  and 
homesteads,  and  started  from  the  Fox  River 
settlement,  where  they  had  been  living  several 
years.  They  set  out  on  foot,  and  went  by  the 
way  of  Shabano  Grove,  Kockford,  Beloit, 
Janesville,  Milton,  and  crossed  Eock  river  at 
Goodrich's  Ferry  (now  Newville),  and  con 
tinued  until  they  reached  the  northeast  corner 
of  Albion,  which  is  the  township  immediately 
south  of  Christiana.  The  first  four  of  these  im 
mediately  selected  land  in  the  town  of  Albion. 
Amund  Kossaland  chose  a  piece  of  land  near 
that  selected  by  Bjorn  Anderson  and  Thorstein 
Olson,  but  a  government  surveyor  stated  that 
it  had  already  been  taken,  and  it  was  soon 


THE   SIXTH   SETTLEMENT.  848 

afterwards  occupied  by  William  Fulton.  The 
result  was  that  Amund  Rossaland  and  Lars 
Schele  went  to  Jefferson  Prairie  and  located 
there. 

My  oldest  brother  Andrew,  who  was  born 
in  1832,  writes  me  that  he  remembers  that  our 
father  started  from  the  Fox  River  settlement 
for  Wisconsin,  in  company  with  the  men  men 
tioned  above,  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  he  adds 
that  our  mother  made  a  bag  for  provisions 
which  father  carried  on  his  back.  It  was  made 
with  straps  fastened  above  and  below  on  the 
bag  for  the  arms  to  pass  through,  and  he  also 
remembers  that  father  carried  a  cane. 

In  regard  to  early  immigrants  and  early  days 
on  Koshkonong  I    have    the    following   letter 
from  my  brother  Andrew,  written  from  White 
Willow,  Minnesota,  February  8,  1895: 
"My  Dear  Brother  Rasmus: 

"Your  letters  dated  the  29th  and  31st  ultimo 
were  duly  received. 

"I  remember  some  of  the  Norwegians  that 
came  to  America  while  I  was  a  little  boy,  but 
I  am  not  able  to  give  the  year  they  came.  Of 
these  immigrants  I  remember  particularly 
Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld,  Thorstein  Olson 
Bjaadland  (the  slooper),  Lars  Dugstad,  Amund 
Anderson  Rossaland,  his  wife,  two  sons,  Endre 


344  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

and  Elling,  and  daughter  Anna;  Lars  Scheie 
and  wife  and  two  daughters,  Gyri  and  Anna; 
Tonnes  Tollefson,  who  married  Miss  Anna  Ros- 
saland;  Lars  Kvendalen,  Nils  Bolstad,  Nils 
Gilderhus,  Magne  Bystolen,  Helleik  Vindeg, 
Ole  and  Ansten  Nattestad.  Amund  Rossaland 
and  Lars  Scheie  moved  from  Jefferson  Prairie 
onto  land  that  they  bought  near  Baraboo,  Wis. 
Helleik  Vindeg,  Lars  and  Nils  Hailing  made 
counterfeit  money  and  went  to  Norway.  Dur 
ing  the  winter  of  1841  these  three  unmarried 
men,  all  from  Numedal,  spent  their  time  partly 
on  Koshkonong  and  partly  in  Whitewater, 
making  Norwegian  money.  The  next  year 
they  went  to  Norway,  where  they  were  con 
victed  and  sent  to  prison.  The  supposition 
is,  that  this  lot  of  counterfeit  money  was  made 
by  these  men  during  their  sojourn  on  Kosh 
konong.  They  wore  the  money  as  soles  in 
their  boots  in  order  to  make  the  bills  look  old 
and  worn.  Nils  Hailing  was  considered  the 
least  guilty  of  the  three,  and  was  accordingly 
sentenced  to  a  shorter  term  in  prison.  After 
paying  the  penalty  of  his  crime,  he  returned  to 
America,  and  became  an  industrious  farmer, 
in  the  town  of  Albion,  where  he  died  at  an  ad 
vanced  age.  Helleik  Vindeg  was  a  brother 
of  Gunnul  Vindeg.  Gunnul  Vindeg  had  a  sis- 


THE  SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  345 

ter  who  married  a  Swede,  by  name  John  Smith, 
a  man  of  doubtful  character,  who  officiated 
both  as  minister  and  physician.  Gunnul  Vin- 
deg  had  another  sister,  Anna,  who  was  mar 
ried  to  Nils  Bolstad,  and  lived  near  Cambridge, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Magne  Bystolen,  Kol- 
bein  Saue  and  Nils  Gilderhus. 

"I  visited  Amund  Kossaland  in  1862.  He 
was  living  on  a  farm  about  ten  miles  from 
Kilbourn  City,  and  about  the  same  distance 
from  Baraboo.  His  son  Endre  used  to  stop  at 
our  house  in  Albion,  when  he  went  on  his  visits 
to  Jefferson  Prairie.  I  think  they  moved  in 
1843  or  1844,  and  their  home  was  near  the 
bank  of  the  Wisconsin  river. 

"And  now  a  word  about  Gunnul  Vindeg  go 
ing  by  boat  from  Beloit  up  Rock  river,  and 
Koshkonong  creek.  I  am  familiar  with  the  re 
port,  but  I  have  had  doubts  as  to  whether  the 
feat  was  actually  accomplished.  There  was 
certainly  no  necessity  for  choosing  such  a  way 
of  getting  to  Koshkonong  in  1840. 

"In  this  connection,  I  will  relate  a  little  ex 
perience  I  had,  in  going  by  boat  down  Kosh 
konong  creek  from  where  we  lived  to  the  lake. 

"The  summer  that  we  built  our  stone  house 
on  the  prairie,  that  is  in  1851,  Halvor  Murm  es 
ter  made  me  a  boat  to  use  in  my  hunting  ex 
peditions.  In  the  spring  of  1852,  I  heard  of 


346  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

good    fishing,     down    at    Johnston's    saw-mill 
(now  Busseyville).     Ole  Lien,  Sr.,  and  I  con 
cluded    to    take    the    boat    down    the    creek, 
chiefly  for  the  novelty  of  it.     We  started  early 
in  the  morning,  with  a  view  of  getting  through 
before  dark;  to  our  surprise,  the  sun  set  before 
we  were  more  than  about  half  way  to  the  mill. 
It  was  moonlight,  and  we  plied  the  oars  with 
all  our  might,  and  got  to  our  destination  about 
midnight     The  only  description  I  can  give  of 
the  creek,  is  that  it  was  very  crooked.    Well, 
we  caught  no  fish,  and  went  home  afoot.     Hav 
ing  the  boat  at  the  mill,  Mr.  Thure  Kumlien 
and  I  made  a  hunting  expedition  with  the  boat, 
to  Koshkonong  lake,  and  returned  the  same 
clay  with  the  boat  to  the  mill.     The  boat  was 
finally  brought  home  on  a  wagon.     I  am  in 
clined  to  think  that  this  little  "Viking"  boat, 
is  the  only  one  that  ever  navigated  the  waters 
of  Koshkonong  creek,  down  to  1852.     The  first 
Norwegians  that  came  to  Koshkonong,  were 
Gunnul  Vindeg,    wife    and  two  sisters,    Gjer- 
mund  Knudson  Sunde,  Thorstein  Olson,  Amund 
Anderson,  Lars  Dugstad,  Bjorn  Anderson,  wife 
and  four  children,  Nils  Bolstad,  Nils  Gilderhus, 
Magne  Bystolen,  Helleik  Vindeg,  Lars  Kven- 
dalen  and  Nils  Hailing. 

"Affectionately,  your  brother, 

"ARNOLD  ANDREW  ANDERSON." 


THE   SIXTH   SETTLEMENT.  847 

Of  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland,  Bjorn  Ander 
son  Kvelve,  Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld  and 
Lars  Dugstad,  I  have  already  given  biograph 
ical  notices.  Just  as  Gunnul  Vindeg's  sister, 
Mrs.  Anna  Bolstad,  was  the  first  white  woman 
in  the  town  of  Deerfield,  so  my  mother  and  my 
two  sisters  were  the  first  white  women  in  the 
town  of  Albion. 

While  the  Vossings,  Odd  J.  Himle,  Nils  Lar 
son  Bolstad,  and  Nils  Siverson  Gilderhus,  vis 
ited,  and  we  may  say  discovered,  Koshkonong, 
in  the  autumn  of  1839,  I  believe  Gunnul  Olson 
Vindeg  was  the  first  Norwegian  to  locate  in 
Dane  county.  I  take  this  to  be  the  fact, 
largely  for  the  reason  that  he  had  so  short  a 
distance  to  go  to  get  there.  He  had  come  from 
Norway  to  Jefferson  Prairie,  in  the  fall  of  1839, 
and  as  soon  as  the  weather  permitted,  the  next 
spring  he  and  Gjermund  Sunde  went  in  a  boat 
up  to  the  township  of  Christiana,  and  if  he 
started  as  early  as  I  think  he  did,  there  was 
nothing  to  hinder  his  getting  located  on  his 
homestead  with  his  family,  in  the  month  of 
April. 

The  other  Norwegians  who  came  to  Kosh 
konong  in  1840,  made  their  departure  from  the 
Fox  Biver  settlement.  They  had  much  fur 
ther  to  go,  and  presumably  did  not  start  until 


348  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

the  weather  was  settled  and  the  ground  dry 
for  walking.  Of  those  who  started  from  Fox 
river,  there  were  again  two  parties;  one  a 
party  of  Vossings,  and  the  other  party  made 
up  chiefly  of  Stavangerings.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  make  out  which  of  these  two  par 
ties  first  left  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement,  or 
which  arrived  first  at  their  destination.  The 
Yossings  were  bound  for  the  northeast  part 
of  Christiana,  where  they  had  selected  land 
the  preceding  autumn,  while  the  Stavanger 
ings  went  in  search  of  land,  which  they  found 
in  the  northeast  part  of  Albion.  I  have  taken 
pains  to  examine  the  records,  but  all  I  can 
find  is  that  all  the  parties  mentioned,  entered 
their  land  at  the  government  land  office 
in  the  year  1840.  The  Vossings  re 
mained  on  their  land  in  1840,  while  all 
the  Stavangerings  who  located  in  Albion, 
went  back  to  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement, 
spent  the  winter  there  and  did  not 
actually  settle  in  Albion  before  the  spring  of 
1841.  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland  built  a 
shanty  on  his  land  in  1840,  before  returning  to 
Illinois,  and  in  the  spring  of  1841,  he  and  my 
father  with  his  family  moved  into  this,  and 
my  father  had  shelter  there,  while  he  built  his 
own  little  log  house  "down  by  the  spring." 


THE    SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  349 

Before  leaving  the  discussion  of  this  subject, 
I  want  to  quote  what  Prof.  Svein  Nilsson  pub 
lished  in  Billcd-Magazin  in  18G9,  page  387,  in 
connection  with  his  sketch  of  John  Haldorson 
Bjorgo.  He  says:  "John  Bjorgo  worked  a 
week  in  Bochester,  N.  Y.,  and  in  this  way  he 
earned  money  to  get  to  Chicago.  Here  he 
again  worked  to  earn  some  more  money,  and 
then  he  continued  his  journey  westward  to 
La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  where  a  part  of  the 
sloop  people  had  founded  a  Norwegian  colony. 
'Here,  I  at  once  got  work,'  says  Bjorgo.  'For 
my  money  I  bought  a  scythe  and  whet-stone, 
and  during  the  harvest,  I  earned  a  dollar  a 
day  by  mowing,  and  from  that  time,  I  contin 
ually  made  progress,  so  that  after  living  in  this 
settlement  for  five  years,  I  had  saved  enough 
to  be  able  to  establish  my  own  home.'  In 
April,  1840,  some  of  the  people  living  in  La 
Salle  county,  went  north  to  look  for  homes  in 
Wisconsin.  Among  those  who  set  out  for 
this  purpose,  I  may  mention  Nils  Bolstad  (now 
deceased),  Nils  Gilderhus  (now  living  in  Min 
nesota),  and  Magne  Bystolen  (died  in  Minne 
sota).  On  their  journey  they  came  to  the  re 
gion  now  called  Christiana.  They  liked  the 
locality,  and  went  at  once  to  Milwaukee,  where 
they  selected  land  at  the  land  office.  On  their 


350  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

return  to  La  Salle  county,  they  told  about  their 
discoveries,  and  as  there  was  fertile  land  to  be 
had  in  abundance,  many  of  their  countrymen 
decided  to  move  from  Illinois  and  settle  in  Wis 
consin.  John  Bjorgo  came  in  the  spring  of 
1841,  and  a  little  later,  Ole  Siverson  Gilderhus 
also  settled  a  little  further  north,  in  the  town 
of  Deerfield.  He  is  a  brother  of  the  above 
mentioned  Nils  Gilderhus,  who,  the  preceding 
year,  had  been  here  on  a  journey  of  discovery. 
'Now  we  wrote,'  says  John  Bjorgo,  'to  our 
friends  and  informed  them  about  the  land 
here.' " 

I  give  this  quotation  for  what  it  may  be 
worth,  with  the  remark  that  it  was  written 
in  1868,  that  is,  twenty-seven  years  ago,  as 
taken  down  from  the  lips  of  John  Halderson 
Bjorgo,  who  was  an  intelligent  and  honest 
man,  who  was  in  a  position  to  know  what  he 
was  talking  about. 

The  other  version,  making  those  Norwegians 
visit  Koshkonong  in  the  fall  of  1839,  is  pub 
lished  by  Nels  A.  Lee,  a  very  intelligent,  hon 
est  and  painstaking  investigator,  and  he  has 
his  facts  from  the  lips  of  no  less  authority  than 
Odd  J.  Himle,  himself.  Odd  J.  Himle  lived 
until  May,  1893,  and  he  was  a  man  of  intelli 
gence  and  undoubted  veracity.  It  would  seem 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  851 

that  Odd  J.  Himle  ought  to  know  what  he 
had  himself  done. 

After  the  above  was  written  and  printed  I 
finally  receiyed  on  May  22,  1895,  the  following 
letter  from  the  United  States  land  commis 
sioner  at  Washington,  D.  C.  As  every  reader 
will  see  it  throws  valuable  light  on  the  question 
as  to  who  were  the  first  Norwegians  to  enter 
land  in  Dane  county. 

The  official  records  thus  show  that  Nils  Lar 
son  Bolstad,  Magne  Bottolfson  Bystolen  and 
Nils  Siverson  Gilderhus  were  the  first,  and  that 
their  lands  were  entered  by  them  on  May  6, 1840. 

They  were  followed  by  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg, 
who  entered  his  land  sixteen  days  later,  on  May 
22,  1840. 

Bjorn  Anderson  Kvelve,  Amund  Anderson 
Hornefjeld,  and  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland  did 
not  enter  their  land  until  June  22,  1840,  that  is, 
just  one  month  later  than  the  Vossings.  This 
definitely  settles  the  question  as  to  who  were 
the  first  Norwegians  to  locate  in  the  Koshko- 
nong  settlement. 

The  letter  from  the  land  commissioner  at 
Washington  does  not,  of  course,  answer  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  Vossings,  as  claimed 
by  Mr.  Nels  A.  Lee,  had  visited  Koshkonong  in 
the  autumn  of  1839.  They  certainly  did  not 


352  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

enter  any  land  that  year;  but  from  the  fact  that 
they  were  able  to  enter  their  lands  as  early 
as  May  6,  1840,  it  seems  more  than  probable 
that  they  had  actually  visited  and  selected  their 
homesteads  the  autumn  before  (1839).  I  am 
personally  fully  persuaded  that  the  Yossings, 
Odd  J.  Himle,  Nils  Larson  Bolstad  and  Nils 
Siverson  Gilderhus  must  have  visited  the  town 
of  Christiana  in  the  fall  of  1839.  The  follow 
ing  letter  speaks  for  itself  and  is  entirely  au 
thentic: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

General  Land  Office, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  May  18,  1895. 
Hon.  Kasmus  B.  Anderson, 

Madison,  Wisconsin. 
Sir: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  May  3,  1895, 
stating  that  you  wish  to  ascertain  who  are  the 
first  Norwegians  who  actually  entered  or  pur 
chased  land  in  Dane  county,  Wisconsin;  that 
the  first  settlers  located  there  in  1840;  that  you 
wish  to  investigate  only  concerning  the  towns 
of  Albion  (town  5  north,  range  12  east),  Chris 
tiana  (town  6  north,  range  12  east),  and  Deer- 
field  (town  7  north,  range  12  east);  that  the  per 
sons  in  question  are: 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  353 

Gunnul  Olson  (Vindeg)  in  Christiana. 

Nils  Siverson  in  Christiana. 

Magne  Bottolfson  in  Christiana. 

Bjorn  Anderson  in  Albion. 

Amund  Anderson  in  Albion. 

Thorstein  Olson  in  Albion. 

Nils  Larson  (Bolstad)  in  Deerfield;  that  you 
have  examined  the  records  in  the  Dane  County 
Court  House,  but  they  give  you  no  clue;  that 
what  you  desire  to  know  in  connection  with  a 
book  you  are  publishing,  in  what  year,  what 
month  and  what  day  the  above  persons  entered 
or  bought  their  land;  that  there  is  a  claim  that 
some  of  them  entered  their  land  as  early  as 
1839,  that  your  impression  is  that  they  all  en 
tered  their  land  in  1840. 

In  reply  you  are  advised  that,  as  shown  by 
the  records  of  this  office,  no  entrymen,  ap 
parently  Norwegian,  entered  or  purchased  land 
in  the  townships  named  prior  to  1840,  and  that 
the  names  of  those  who  entered  during  that 
year  are  not  exactly  the  same  as  those  men 
tioned  by  you,  but  appear  as  follows: 

Omen  Anderson  made  C.  E.  No.  7330,  June 
22,  1840,  for  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quar 
ter  of  section  1,  town  5  north,  range  12  east. 

Birn  Anderson  made  C.  E.  No.  7332,  June  22, 
23 


854  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

1840,  for  west  half  of  southeast  quarter  of  sec 
tion  1,  town  5  north,  range  12  east. 

Lars  Olson  made  C.  E.  7333,  June  22,  1840,  for 
the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec 
tion  1,  town  5  north,  range  12  east. 

Foster  Olsen  made  C.  E.  No.  7334,  June  22, 
1840,  for  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  2,  town  5  north,  range  12  east. 

Nils  Larson  made  C.  E.  No.  7035,  May  6,  1840, 
for  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quar 
ter  of  section  2,  town  6  north,  range  12  east. 

Magany  Buttelson  made  C.  E.  No.  7033,  May 
6, 1840,  for  northwest  quarter  of  northwest  quar 
ter  of  section  2,  town  G  north,  range  12  east. 

Gunul  Oleson  Windeg  made  C.  E.  No.  7129, 
May  22,  1840,  for  the  northeast  quarter  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  35,  town  6  north, 
range  12  east. 

Lars  Davidson  made  C.  E.  No.  7944,  December 
8, 1840,  for  the  south  half  of  the  southwest  quar 
ter  of  section  28,  town  7  north,  range  12  east. 

Nils  Seaverson  made  C.  E.  No.  7034,  May  6, 
1840,  for  south  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  35,  town  7  north,  range  12  east. 
Very  respectfully, 

S.  W.  LAMOREUX, 

Commissioner. 


THE   SIXTH  SETTLEMENT.  355 

Jens  Pederson  Vehus,  who  died  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1894,  came  from  Nore,  in  Numedal,  in 
1842.  He  was  a  brother  of  Gunnul  Vindeg's 
wife,  and  in  the  same  ship  with  him  came  Hal- 
vor  Funkelien  from  Kongsberg  and  Thore 
Nore,  from  Numedal.  They  all  settled  on  Kosh- 
konong,  and  Halvor  Funkelien  had  a  lawsuit 
with  Eev.  J.  W.  C.  Dietrichson,  of  which  Rev. 
Dietrichson  gives  a  long  account  in  his  volume 
about  his  first  visit  to  America. 

One  of  the  old  settlers  on  Koshkonong  in  the 
southeast  part  of  Christiana  was  Lars  Jo- 
hanneson  Holo,  who  emigrated  from  Rings- 
aker?  in  Norway,  in  1839.  He  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Johan  Nordboe,  who  emigrated  from 
Ringebo  in  Gudbransdsdalen  in  1832.  Johan 
Nordboe  wrote  letters  from  America  to  Lars 
Holo,  and  this  induced  him  to  emigrate  in  com 
pany  with  a  glass-blower  by  name  Lauman, 
from  Faaberg.  This  Lauman  afterwards  died 
in  the  Sugar  Creek  settlement,  near  Keokuk, 
Iowa.  They  went  by  way  of  Havre  to  New 
York,  and  first  located  in  Rochester,  New  York. 
Lars  Holo  remained  in  Rochester  about  two 
years.  He  and  his  three  grown  up  sons  get 
ting  employment  on  the  canal  there.  In  1841, 
he  went  to  Muskego,  and  in  1843  he  finally  lo 
cated  on  Koshkonong.  He  and  his  wife  died 


356  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

there,  both  very  old.  Many  of  his  sons  are 
living,  and  one  of  them,  Martin  L.  Holo,  now 
owns  the  farm  bought  in  Albion  by  Bjorn  An 
derson  Kvelve. 

Seven  years  later  (1846),  Lars  J.  Holo's 
brother,  Anders  Johanneson  Tommerstigen, 
emigrated  from  Vardal  in  Norway,  and  settled 
near  his  brother  on  Koshkonong.  Anders  and 
his  wife  prospered  and  died  at  an  advanced 
age.  Their  youngest  son,  Peter,  now  owns  the 
old  homestead,  and  is  one  of  the  most  success 
ful  and  intelligent  farmers  in  the  town  of 
Christiana. 


XXII. 

Miscellaneous  Matters. 

In  the  year  1840,  Gudinund  Haugaas  and 
Johan  Nordboe,  and  possibly  Engebret  Larson 
Narvig,  were  the  only  Norwegians  who  had 
practiced  the  art  of  medicine  in  America. 
Neither  had  studied  medicine  in  any  medical 
college.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
the  first  regular  graduate  of  the  medical  de 
partment  of  the  university  of  Norway  who 
came  to  America,  to  practice  medicine,  was  a 


MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.  357 

man,  by  name  Brandt,  from  Drammen.  He 
first  practiced  a  while  in  Chicago,  then  in  the 
Norwegian  settlements  in  Illinois,  then  bought 
a  farm  in  Iowa,  and  finally  settled  as  a  regular 
practitioner  in  Indiana.  I  do  not  know  what 
year  he  came  to  America,  or  what  finally  be 
came  of  him. 

Brandt  was  followed  by  Theodore  Schjotte 
and  Gerhard  C.  Paoli.  Both  came  to  Kosh- 
konong.  Dr.  Schotte  returned  to  Norway  and 
became  a  government  physician  in  Finmarken, 
and  Dr.  Paoli  is  still  practicing  in  Chicago. 
Dr.  Madsen  was  a  medical  student  from  Nor 
way.  He  settled  in  Cambridge,  Wisconsin, 
and  died  there.  Dr.  J.  C.  Dundas  came  to 
America  about  the  year  1850,  and  settled  in 
Cambridge,  where  he  died  about  a  dozen  years 
ago.  After  him  came  Dr.  E.  Hanson,  who  lived 
near  Utica,  on  Koshkonong,  but  eventually 
returned  to  Norway,  where  he  died.  The  num 
ber  of  Norwegian  physicians  now  living  in 
America  is  very  large,  both  of  those  who  have 
graduated  in  Norway,  and  of  those  who  have 
studied  in  this  country. 

Ole  Kynning's  book  produced  a  large  em 
igration  from  Norway  in  1839,  particularly 
from  Numedal  and  adjoining  districts,  where 
his  statements  were  corroborated  by  the  pres- 


358  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

ence  of  Ansten  Nattestad.  But  the  report  of 
Ole  Rynning's  untimely  death  at  Beaver  Creek, 
partly  caused  by  his  unhealthy  work  on  the 
canal  between  Chicago  and  the  Illinois  river, 
while  it  did  not  absolutely  stop  emigration, 
made  people  hesitate  and  wait  until  they  could 
get  reliable  reports  from  friends  and  relatives 
in  America.  The  revival  came  in  1843,  when 
two  ships  sailed  from  Bergen,  in'  one  of  which 
we  find  Kleng  Peer  son,  and  in  the  other  Knud 
Langland.  That  same  year  an  emigrant  vessel 
sailed  from  Drobak,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Nor- 
\\ay.  This  ship  from  Drobak  was  commanded 
by  Capt.  Gasman,  and  among  the  emigrants 
were  found  Hans  Gasman  aud  his  family. 
Hans  Gasman  came  from  near  Skien,  that  is, 
Thelemarken.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Norwegian  Storthing,  and  was  a  man  of  char 
acter  and  considerable  prominence.  He  and 
many  of  his  company  went  to  Pine  Lake,  in 
Wisconsin,  where  a  young  Swedish  settlement 
had  been  founded  by  a  Swedish  minister  named 
G.  .Unonius  in  1841.  The  fact  that  Hans  Gas 
man  located  there  brought  a  large  number  of 
Norwegian  immigrants  to  this  settlement. 
These  people  chose  Mr.  Unonius  as  their  pas 
tor,  and  he  was  ordained  by  an  Episcopalian 
bishop.  In  1843,  the  people  in  this  settle- 


MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS.  359 

ment  had  resolved  to  build  a  church  on  the 
west  side  of  Pine  Lake. 

About  2,000  Norwegians  emigrated  in  1843, 
mainly  from  Thelemarken  and  Vossr  and  a  ma 
jority  of  them  came  to  Wisconsin.  The  emi 
gration  would  scarcely  have  been  less  in  1844, 
but  for  the  fact  that  many  were  waiting  to  get 
letters  and  reports  from  their  friends  concern 
ing  affairs  in  America,  and  about  the  condition 
of  Norwegian  settlements.  Much  of  this  in 
formation  was  supplied  by  Johan  Reinert  Rei- 
erson's  book  in  regard  to  his  visit  to  America 
in  1843.  He  had  traveled  extensively  both 
north  and  south,  and  had  made  a  more  thor 
ough  investigation  than  had  ever  been  made 
before,  by  any  Norwegian.  His  book  "Veivi- 
seren"  (The  Pathfinder)  was  published  in  Nor 
way  in  1844.  The  "Pathfinder"  was  a  volume 
of  166  pages,  and  gave  a  far  more  elaborate 
account  of  conditions  and  opportunities  in 
America  than  Rynning's  little  pamphlet  of 
only  39  pages,  though  the  two  books  covered 
pretty  much  the  same  ground  and  agreed  in 
view£  and  conclusions. 


360  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 


XXIII. 

Capt.  Hans  Friis. 

Among  the  many  gallant  tars  who  assisted 
in  piloting  thousands  of  our  Norwegian  em 
igrants  to  their  new  fatherland,  I  must  not 
neglect  to  mention  Capt.  H>ns  Friis.  He  was 
a  sailor  in  "Enigheden,"  the  ship  that  left 
Egersund  in  1837,  and  he  made  no  less 
than  nine  trips  with  emigrants  from  Nor 
way  between  the  years  1837  and  1847.  In 
1847,  he  concluded  he  would  emigrate  himself, 
and .  from  that  time  until  his  death,  he  re 
mained  a  United  States  citizen.  He  began  his 
life  in  America,  as  a  sailor  on  our  great  lakes. 
Then  he  tried  to  get  into  the  United  States 
navy,  but  failed.  Finally  he  enlisted  in  the 
United  States  army;  was  wounded,  discharged, 
had  a  pension,  and  spent  his  old  days  on  his 
farm  in  Muskego,  where  he  died  in  1886. 

Hans  Friis  was  born  near  Farsund,  in  Nor 
way,  December  14,  1809.  In  his  younger  days 
he  received  some  instruction  in  reading,  writ 
ing  and  arithmetic.  Later  he  studied  naviga- 


CAPT.  HANS  FHIIS.  861 

tion,  and  when  about  25  years  old,  he  passed 
an   examination   as  narri gator. 

His  career  as  a  sailor  began  when  he  was 
about  16  years  old  by  going  as  cook  in  a  small 
•vessel  on  the  coast  of  Norway.  He  soon 
shipped  on  board  a  larger  vessel,  and  sailed  to 
various  European  ports.  He  advanced  until 
he  became  ship  carpenter,  and  finally,  second 
mate.  During  these  years  he  visited  most  of 
the  ports  of  Europe,  and  acquired  some  knowl 
edge  of  English  and  German.  In  the  spring 
of  1837,  he  hired  as  a  common  sailor  in  a  ship 
in  Egersund,  bound  for  America  with  emi 
grants,  and  that  summer  made  his  first  visit 
to  New  York.  In  1839,  we  find  him  a  sailor 
in  Captain  Ankerson's  ship  "Emelie,"  going 
with  emigrants  from  Drammen.  He  sailed  sev 
eral  years  with  Captain  Ankerson,  the  last 
years  as  second  mate.  After  some  years,  Cap 
tain  Ankerson  quit  sailing,  and  Friis  hired  in 
another  ship  from  Drammen.  As  far  as  I  can 
find  out,  the  name  of  this  ship  was  "Tricolo," 
and  it  was  commanded  by  Captain  Overveien 
of  Farsund.  Friis  was  first  mate.  The  "Tricolo" 
was  also  engaged  in  carrying  emigrants  to 
New  York.  In  the  spring  of  1846,  Friis  be 
came  captain  of  "Tricolo,"  and  that  summer 
made  a  trip  to  New  York  with  emigrants. 


362  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

After  his  return  to  Norway,  in  the  fall,  "Tri- 
colo"  was  sold  and  a  young  man,  a  relative  of 
the  new  owner,  became  captain,  and  Friis  be 
came  first  mate.  In  the  spring  of  1847,  the 
ship  sailed  from  Draminen,  with  a  party  of  em 
igrants,  destined  for  America,  and  the  young 
captain,  having  but  little  experience  as  a 
sailor,  the  ship  had  a  long  and  troublesome 
voyage  to  New  York.  Friis  decided  to  leave 
the  ship  in  New  York,  but  the  captain  would 
not  pay  him  his  wages,  and  so  Friis  went  to 
the  Swedish-Norwegian  consul,  and  telling  him 
how  matters  stood,  he  got  his  pay. 

Friis  was  in  New  York  nine  times  with  emi 
grants;  the  first  time  in  1837,  and  the  last  in 
1847,  and  in  this  time  he  three  times  accom 
panied  the  immigrants  as  far  as  Milwaukee, 
the  ship  in  the  meantime,  taking  its  cargo  for 
some  European  port.  During  the  winters  in 
Norway,  Friis  traveled  extensively  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Norway  as  emigrant  agent,  and 
thus  he  became  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  Norwegian  settlements  in 
America. 

In  1847,  he  settled  in  America,  and  for  sev 
eral  years,  he  sailed  on  the  great  lakes,  first 
before  the  mast,  but  later  as  captain  of  the 
ship  "North  Cape." 


CAPT.   HANS   FRIIS. 

July  4,  1852,  he  was  married  in  Milwaukee 
to  Miss  Bertha  Andrea  Abraharnson,  and  lived 
there  until  1854,  when  he  and  his  wife  moved 
to  Muskego,  where  some  time  before  he  had 
bought  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Norway.  Not 
being  used  to  agriculture,  he  continued  sail 
ing  while  his  wife  managed  the  farm. 

In  1863,  he  desired  to  enlist  in  the  United 
States  navy,  and  was  sent  to  Philadelphia,  but 
as  there  was  no  place  for  him,  he  enlisted  in 
company  A,  61st  regiment  Pennsylvania  vol 
unteers.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Petersburg,  a  bullet  passing  through  the  upper 
part  of  his  right  shoulder,  and  was  discharged 
June  8,  1865. 

After  his  return  from  the  war,  he  lived  on 
bis  farm,  where  he  died,  August  14,  1886.  His 
wife  and  five  children,  three  boys  and  two 
girls,  survive  him,  all  in  comfortable  circum 
stances.  His  nephew,  Jer.  F.  Fries,  a  banker 
in  Toronto,  South  Dakota,  is  a  most  intelligent 
man,  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  mauy  val 
uable  facts  contained  in  this  volume.  He  is 
a  most  excellent  correspondent. 

The  following  is 'a  copy  of  the  discharge  of 
Mr.  Hans  Friis  from  the  army: 

"Hans  Friis,  a  privtae  of  Capt.  D.  M.  Look- 
hart's  Company  "A,"  61st  Kegiment  of  Penn- 


364  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

sylvania  Volunteers,  enrolled  September  1, 
1863,  to  serve  three  years,  was  discharged  from 
service  the  8th  day  of  June,  1865,  at  Harewood 
General  Hospital  by  reason  of  disability. 

"Surgeon. 

"Said  Hans  Friis,  born  in  Norway,  is  58 
years  old,  5  ft.  8  in.  high,  fair  complexion,  gray 
eyes,  and  dark  hair  and  beard." 


XXIV. 

Retrospect. 

As  we  now  look  back  and  examine  the 
ground  we  have  gone  over  in  the  present  vol 
ume,  we  find  that  in  the  year  1840,  there  were 
six  Norwegian  settlements  in  America  that 
were  destined  to  continue  to  receive  accretions 
from  the  old  county,  and  become  more  or  less 
prominent  in  the  annals  of  Norwegians  in  this 
country.  These  six  settlements  were: 

1.  The  Kendall  settlement  founded  by 
Kleng  Peerson  and  the  sloopers  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Ontario,  in  Orleans  county,  New  York, 
in  the  autumn  of  1825.  This  settlement  still 
exists,  though  it  has  not  grown  much  in  the 
past  fifty  years.  Land  was  too  dear  in  Orleans 


RETROSPECT.  865 

county  for  Norwegian  immigrants.  No  Norwe 
gian  schools  or  churches  were  ever  built  in  the 
Kendall  settlement.  The  Norwegians  there 
are  pretty  thoroughly  Americanized,  and  they 
have  but  little  correspondence  or  intercourse 
with  their  countrymen  in  other  parts  of  Amer 
ica.  The  Norwegian  language,  is,  however, 
still  spoken  there  by  a  few  of  the  inhabitants. 

2.  The  Fox   Eiver   settlement,   in   La   Salle 
county,  Illinois,  discovered  by  Kleng  Peerson 
in  1833,  and  founded  by  him  and  others  from 
the  Kendall  settlement  in  1834.     It  received 
large  accretions  in  1835,  and  particularly  in 
1836,  1837  and  1838,  and  it  became  the  nu 
cleus  of  a  number  of  settlements  in  the  adjoin 
ing  counties  Lee,  Kendall  and  others. 

3.  Chicago,  Illinois.     Here  the  first  Norwe 
gians  settled  in  1836.     Here  Halstein  Torrison 
from  Fjelberg,  in  Norway,  was  the  first  to  set 
tle,  October  16,  1836.       There  are  now  more 
Norwegians  in  Chicago  than  any  where  else 
in  America. 

4.  Jefferson  Prairie  in  Kock  county,  Wiscon 
sin,  and  in  Boone  county,  Illinois,  also  includ 
ing  Eock  Prairie,  west  of  the  Eock  river  in 
Eock  county,    Wisconsin,    and  Eock  Eun,    in 
Illinois,  in  1838.     Ole  Knudson  Nattestad  was 
the  founder  of  the  Jefferson  Prairie  settlement 


366  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

in  1838.  Gullik  O.  Gravdahl  became  the  first 
settler  on  Rock  Prairie  in  1839,  and  Klenaet 
Stabek  in  Rock  Run  in  1839. 

5.  Muskego,     in     Waukesha     and     Racine 
counties,  Wisconsin.     The  settlement  in  Wau 
kesha  county  was  founded  by  the  Luraas  party, 
from  Tin,  Thelemarken,  in  1839,  and  the  set 
tlement  in  Norway,  Racine  county,  was  started 
in  1840  by  Soren  Bache  and  Johannes  Johan- 
nesen,  from  Drammen.     These  were  soon  fol 
lowed  by  Even  Heg,  and  others.     In  Muskego, 
was  published,  in  1847,  Nordlyset,  the  first  Nor 
wegian  newspaper  in  America. 

6.  Koshkonong,  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
Dane  county,  Wisconsin,.     The  first  Norwegian 
settlers    there    were    Gunnul    Olson    Vindeg, 
Bjorn  Anderson  Kvelve,  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaad- 
land,  Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld,  Lars  Olson 
Dugstad,  Nils  Larson  Bolstad,    Nils  Siverson 
Gilderhus,  Magne  Bottolfson  Bystol    and  An 
ders  Finno.     This  settlement  grew  rapidly,  and 
soon   spread   throughout   Dane   county.     It  is 
still  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  commun 
ity  of  Norwegian  farmers  in  America. 

But  in  reviewing  our  work,  we  find  that  a 
number  of  Norwegians  had  settled  outside  of 
these  six  settlements  in  1840,  some  with,  and 
others  without,  the  purpose  of  founding  Norwe- 


RETROSPECT.  367 

gian  settlements.  If  we  go  back  to  the  year 
1840,  we  will  find  Norwegians  domiciled  in  New 
York  city,  (Lars  Tallakson)  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
(Lars  Larson  and  others)  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  (N. 
P.  Langeland  with  his  family)  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  and  also  in  New  Orleans.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  trace  any  of  the  Norwegians  liv 
ing  in  Philadelphia  or  New  Orleans,  but  in  his 
book  on  America,  Ole  Eynning  states  that 
there  were  Norwegians  residing  in  those  cities 
in  1837. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  taken  note 
of  Norwegian  settlers  living  alone  or  in  bodies 
in  the  following  places  before  the  end  of  the 
year  1810: 

1.  In  Lenauwee  county,  near  Adrian,  Mich 
igan,  where  Ingebret  Larson  settled  in  1833, 
and  afterwards  was  joined  by  a  few   others. 

2.  At  Niagara  Falls,  where  Ole  Olson  Hetle- 
tvedt  worked  in  a  paper  mill  in  the  early  thir 
ties. 

3.  Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland  left  the  Ken 
dall  settlement  early,  and  wandered  into  Mich 
igan  and  other  states,  before  he  got  to  the  Fox 
River  settlement  in  1834. 

4.  In  Shelby  county,  Mo.,  where  Kleng  Peer- 
son  and  about  a  dozen  Stavangerings  from  the 
Fox  River  settlement,  located  in  the  spring  of 
1837. 


368  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

5.  In  White  county,  Indiana,     In  his  book, 
page  12,  Ole  Kynning  says  that  about  seventy 
miles  south  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  White  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  Tippecanoe  river,  there  lived 
in  1837  two  Norwegians  from  Drammen,  who 
together  owned  1,100  acres  of  land,  and  that 
there  was  still  good  land  to  be  had  near  them. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  identify  these  two  Nor 
wegians  from  Drainmen.     I  have  made  many 
attempts  to  find  out  who  they  were,  but  all 
my  efforts  thus  far  have  been  fruitless. 

6.  In  Beaver  Creek,  Iroquois  county,  Illinois, 
in  1837.      Here  Ole  Kynning  wrote  his  book, 
and  here  he  died  and  was  buried  near  Mons 
Adland's  farm.     The  last  one  to  abandon  this 
unfortunate  settlement  was  Mons  Adland,  in 
1840.       Among  those  who  settled  there  Kev. 
O.  J.  Hatlestad   mentions   one  Knud  Tysland, 
who  has  escaped  my  notice.     The  Beaver  Creek 
settlement  was  near  the  state  line  of  Indiana 
and  extended  partly  into  that  state,  so  that 
some  people  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of 
the  Beaver  Creek  settlement  as  in  Indiana. 

7.  In  Clark  county,  Missouri,  where  Lars  Tal- 
lakson  settled  in  1838,  and  spent  three  years, 
moving  to  Lee  county,  Iowa,  in  1841. 

8.  In    Noble    county,    Indiana,    where    Ole 
Aasland,  from  Fledsberg,  bought  600  acres  of 


RETROSPECT.  369 

land,  and  located  with  a  colony  of  twenty  of 
his  countrymen  in  1838.  Ole  Aasland  soon 
abandoned  the  colony,  and  removed  to  Ken 
dall,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  in  1864. 

9.  In    Dallas    county,    Texas,    where    Johan 
Nordboe  located  in  1838  with  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  getting  as  far  away  from  his  country 
men  as  possible.    He  left  a  married  daughter  in 
the  Fox  River  settlement,  and  upon  her  death 
Ole  Canuteson  took  her  children  to  their  grand 
father  in  Dallas  county. 

10.  In  Sugar  Creek  in  Lee  county,  Iowa,  about 
seven  miles  from  Keokuk.       This  settlement 
was  founded  by  Kleng  Peerson,  Hans  Barlien, 
Andrew  Simonson,  the  three  brothers,  Peter, 
William  and  Hans  Tesman,  and  by  a  number 
of  people  from  Nserstrand,  in  Stavanger  Amt, 
Norway.     It  will  be  noticed  that  this  settle 
ment  was  located  near  the  prosperous  Mormon 
city  of  Nauvoo  in  Illinois,  and  the  Norwegians 
in  the  Sugar  Creek  colony  were  mostly  Mor 
mons.     Johan  Reinert  Reierson  mentions  this 
settlement,  and  says  that  both  Hans  Barlien 
and  one  of  the  Tesmans  had  emigrated  from 
Norway  on  account  of  litigation  in  which  they 
were  involved.     He  puts  its  population  in  1843 
as  thirty  to  forty  families  and  says  they  were 
Mormons. 

24 


870  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

XXV. 
TEXAS 

Johan  Reinert  Reierson. 

In  1840  there  was,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  learn,  only  one  Norwegian  family  residing 
in  Texas.  Johan  Nordboe  and  his  wife  and 
children  had  settled  in  Dallas  county  on  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  1838.  He  founded  no  settle 
ment. 

Although  this  volume  was  to  end  with  the 
year  1840,  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of 
giving  a  brief  sketch  of  when  and  how  the  first 
couple  of  settlements  were  formed  in  that  far- 
off  state.  The  honor  of  founding  the  first  Nor 
wegian  settlement  there  belongs  to  Johan  Kein- 
ert  Keierson. 

Johan  Reinert  Keierson  was  born  April  17, 
1810,  in  Vestre  Moland,  Norway,  where  his 
father,  Ole  Keierson,  was  a  deacon.  The  father 
afterwards  moved  to  Holt.  Ole  Keierson 
had  seven  sons  and  two  daughters,  Johan  Kein- 


JOHAN   iUJilNJERT  itUEKbON.  371 

ert   being  the  eldest      The  boy,  being  tal 
ented,    was   to   have   an    education,   but    the 
means  of  the  deacon  were  limited,  and  Keinert 
had  to  earn  money   as  a  private  teacher  in 
Tvedestrand.     On   account   of   some   youthful 
indiscretions,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  uni 
versity   at   Christiania,    and   went   to   Copen 
hagen,  where  he  supported  himself  for  several 
years    by    translating    German    and    French 
books,  in  conjunction    with  C.  F.  Gyntelberg. 
In  Copenhagen  he  married  his  wife,  Henrietta 
Walter,  and  had  with  her  six  sons  and  two 
daughters.     The  wife  died  when  her  last  son 
was  born  in  Prairieville,  Texas,  in  the  begin 
ning  of  1851.       From  Copenhagen,   Reierson 
went  to  Hamburg,  and  after  a  short  stay  there, 
he  came  back  to  Norway,  where  in  Christian- 
sand,  he  began  the  publication  of  Christian- 
mndsposten,    through    which    he    worked    for 
education,  freedom  of  conscience,  religious  tol 
erance  and  the  development    of  public  senti 
ment.     He  did  all  he  could  to  promote  liberty 
and  independence,  and  he  worked  with  all  his 
might  against  the  evil  of  intemperance,  and 
for  this  reason,  some  gave  him  the  nickname, 
"the  apostle  of  temperance."      He  succeeded  in 
organizing    the    first    temperance    society    in 
•Christiansand,  and  he  gradually  started  other 


372  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

similar  societies  in  the  neighboring  districts, 
lie  often  criticised  the  office-holding  class, 
and  was  always  ready  to  take  the  part  of 
the  poor  against  the  abuse  of  those  in 
power.  The  fact  that  his  paper  contained 
information  about  America,  and  encouraged 
people  to  emigrate,  gave  offense  to  many 
people,  for  in  that  time  emigration  was 
looked  upon  as  a  crime  close  akin  to  treason. 
Among  Reierson's  most  bitter  enemies,  was 
Adolph  Stabell,  the  editor  of  MorgenUadct,  in 
Christiania,  the  leading  paper  in  Norway;  but 
Mrs.  Elise  Wserenskjold  testifies  that  she  has 
heard  Stabell  say  that  Reierson  was  the  most 
competent  editor  in  Norway.  One  of  Reier- 
son's  friends,  Christian  Grogaard,  a  son  of  the 
Eidsvoldsmau,  Rev.  Hans  Jacob  Grogaard,  pro 
posed  when  it  was  known  that  Reierson  had 
decided  to  emigrate,  that  he  should  be  induced, 
first  to  make  a  journey  alone,  and  find  out 
what  localities  in  America  were  best  suited  for 
Norwegian  emigrants.  For  this  purpose,  Gro 
gaard,  Mr.  Wserenskjold,  and  others,  agreed  to 
furnish  him  the  sum  of  $300.  Reierson  ac 
cepted  this  offer,  although  the  amount  was  not 
sufficient  to  pay  his  expenses.  In  the  summer 
of  1843,  he  left  Norway  by  way  of  Havre,  in 
Franco,  for  New  Orleans,  whence  he  proceeded 
to  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  After  visiting  the 


JOHAN   UEINERT  REIERSON.  373 

Norwegian  settlements,  he  wrote  a  book,  the 
;ruthfulness  of  which  was  attested  by  Hans 
Gasman  and  Rev.  Unonius  and  many  others, 
and  sent  it  to  Norway.  On  this  journey,  we 
find  him  writing  a  long  letter  to  Hans  Gasman 
in  Pine  Lake,  December  16,  1843.  Later  on,  he 
went  to  Texas,  which  was  at  that  time  an  in 
dependent  republic.  In  a  letter  written  by 
Reierson,  and  dated  Cincinnati,  March  19, 
1844,  it  appears  that  from  Natchitoches,  in 
Louisiana,  he  had  gone  by  stage  to  San  Augus 
tine,  in  Texas,  and  thence  to  Austin,  the  capital. 
Congress  was  in  session  there  at  the  time,  and 
Reierson  was  presented  to  the  governor,  Sam 
Houston,  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  getting 
Norwegian  emigrants  to  choose  Texas  for 
their  new  home.  After  a  sojourn  of  six  days 
in  Austin,  he  traveled  through  the  towns  of 
Bastrop  and  Reutersville,  to  the  town  of  Wash 
ington,  on  the  Brazos  river,  and  then  proceeded 
to  Houston  and  Galveston,  where  he  arrived 
March  7,  whence  he  took  a  steamer  to  Cincin 
nati,  Ohio,  where  he  wrote  the  letter  above 
referred  to.  After  his  return  to  Norway,  he 
published  his  famous  book,  the  Pathfinder 
(Veiviseren),  of  which  one  copy  was  given  to 
each  one  of  those  who  had  contributed  to  the 
fund  of  $300.  Before  departing  from  Norway, 


874  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

he  began  in  company  with  his  brother  Chris 
tian,  to  publish  Norway  and  America,  of  which 
three  volumes  appeared.  In  April,  1845, 
Eeierson  went  with  a  ship  from  Lillesand,  in 
company  with  C.  Grogaard  and  S.  Nielson,  to 
Havre,  where  they  met  Reierson's  father,  his 
oldest  sister  Gina,  and  his  brother  Gerhard,  who 
had  arrived  by  a  vessel  from  Arendal.  From 
Havre  they  sailed  in  two  different  American 
ships  to  New  Orleans.  In  New  Orleans  the 
father,  Ole  Keierson,  bought  a  land  certificate 
on  1,44G  acres  of  land  in  Texas,  and  from  the 
Texan  consul,  in  New  Orleans,  they  received  a 
letter  of  recommendation  to  Dr.  Starn  in  Na- 
cogdoches,  the  oldest  town  in  Texas.  From 
New  Orleans,  they  went  by  steamer  to  Nat- 
chitoches,  whence  John  Keinert  Eeierson,  his 
father  and  sister,  Gina,  proceeded  to  Nacogdo- 
ches;  but  G.  Eeierson,  Grogaard,  and  Nielson 
continued  their  journey  to  Shreveport,  and 
thence  to  Marshall.  They  arrived  in  Nacog- 
doches,  the  fourth  of  July,  and  as  there  was  a 
celebration  in  honor  of  the  day,  they  were  in 
vited,  and  received  much  attention.  In  Nacog- 
doches,  Reierson  found  a  German  merchant,  by 
name  Hoya,  and  a  Slesvigian,  by  name  G.  Bon- 
dis,  also  a  merchant,  and  these  were  very  kind 
to  him  as  well  as  to  the  Norwegians,  who  came 


JOfiAN   REINERT  REIERSON.  375 

in  later  years.  Hoy  a  went  with  Reierson  to  Dr. 
Starn,  who  in  turn  went  with  him  to  the  land- 
office,  to  look  up  the  certificate  which  his  father 
had  bought,  and  offered  to  find  a  surveyor  on 
whom  he  could  depend. 

In  the  autumn  they  went  out  to  look  for 
land,  and  they  located  where  we  now  have  the 
settlement  called  Brownsboro,  and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  the  first  Norwegian  settlement  in 
Texas.  They  gave  it  the  name  of  Normandy, 
but  this  was  afterwards  changed  for  some  rea 
son  or  other,  to  Brownsboro. 

After  helping  his  father  to  bay  the  neces 
sary  cattle,  and  getting  an  American  to  build 
a  log  house  for  his  family,  Reierson  went  to 
New  Orleans  to  meet  his  wife  and  children, 
his  mother  and  his  sister  Gina,  who  had  come 
by  another  ship  from  Christiansand  to  Havre, 
and  thence  on  to  New  Orleans.  Of  this  journey, 
Oscar  Reierson,  who  is  a  son  of  J.  R.  Reierson, 
and  now  cashier  of  a  bank  in  Key  West,  Flor 
ida,  writes: 

"My  mother  with  myself,  John,  Carl,  Chris 
tian  and  infant  daughter  Henriette,  took  sail 
ing  vessel  from  Christiansand  late  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1845,  proceeding  to  Havre  de  Grace, 
France,  with  grandmother  and  Gina.  At 
Havre  we  remained  ten  days,  and  then 


376  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

boarded  the  sailing  vessel  "Magnolia,"  with  a 
number  of  other  Norwegian  families  bound 
for  New  Orleans,  Louisiana.  On  the  voyage, 
little  Henriette  died,  and  was  consigned  to  the 
waves. 

"We  took  lodging  in  New  Orleans,  remaining 
there  several  months.  The  Grogaards,  too, 
were  there.  After  a  time,  uncle  Larson  came 
there  from  Shreveport,  and  later,  father.  We 
proceeded  to  Shreveport,  up  Eed  river  on  a 
very  small  steamboat.  Water  wTas  very  low 
and  no  pasnge  over  the  falls  at  Alexandria. 
A  week  was  spent  before  they  succeeded  in 
winding  our  little  boat  over  the  falls  by  havr- 
sers  fastened  to  trees  up  the  river  bank,  and  the 
capstan  worked  on  the  boat.  Slowly  we  went 
up  the  river.  Seven  miles  above  Natchitoches, 
a  little  after  dark,  the  boat  ran  on  a  snag. 
We  all  got  in  a  canebrake.  The  boat  was  lost: 
wet  provisions  were  fished  out  of  the  boat's 
cargo,  diving  for  which  to  attach  a  rope  or  hook 
to  barrel  or  bales,  father  was  nearly  drowned, 
being  hauled  up  unconscious  after  having 
gone  down  successfully  several  times.  No 
chance  to  get  away,  until  rain  above  slmi'ild 
swell  the  river,  so  that  boats  rouM  am-em!. 
This  lasted  two  weeks,  during  wbirli,  ninthly 
river  water  was  our  only  drink,  and  we  were 


JOHAN   REINERT   REIERSON.  377 

exposed  to  rains,  etc.  All  our  movable  effects 
except  some  light  boxes  or  trunks,  were  lost  in 
the  wreck.  At  Shreveport,  our  means  being 
slender,  we  lived  in  a  cabin,  we  boys  all  down 
with  diarrhoea,  and  I  with  measles  in  addition. 
For  weeks  I  was  not  able  to  turn  in  bed.  A 
Dr.  Black  was  in  attendance.  I  was  delirious 
much  of  the  time.  One  evening,  Dr.  Black, 
with  other  physicians  examined  me  with  father 
and  mother  at  the  bedside.  They  decided 
that  I  could  not  live  through  the  night,  that  I 
was  already  dying,  my  extremities  growing 
cold.  This  was  in  the  winter  of  1846.  Now  it 
is  1894,  and  I  am  not  dead  yet,  and  I  have  had 
but  little  faith  in  the  medical  art  since  that 
time.  The  doctors  left.  Father  heated  bricks 
and  rocks  which  were  rolled  in  carpets  and 
blankets.  These  were  piled  up  around  me,  and 
in  this  way  my  life  was  doubtless  saved.  I 
remember  this  as  distinctly  as  if  it  had  oc 
curred  but  yesterday.  Later  we  moved,  for  a 
time,  to  a  better  house  on  the  Bayou  above  the 
town,  where  boarders  were  taken.  Here  Carl 
died.  It  was  spring  (1846),  when  Carl  and  I 
a  few  days  before  his  death,  were  out  picking 
flowers,  and  my  wrist  was  Dislocated  by  a  rail 
falling  on  it.  Some  time  after  that  we  were 
hauled  in  a  wagon  with  our  little  plunder  into 


378  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Texas,  some  three  miles  from  what  became 
later  the  town  of  Mount  Enterprise,  in  Eush 
county.  Charles  Vincent  had  a  little  country 
store,  and  we  lived  in  a  Gin  House.  Father 
had  met  Vincent  in  Shreveport  and  had  been 
helped  by  him.  We  children  were  fearfully 
weak,  but  we  recuperated  at  the  Gin  House, 
where  we  got  an  abundance  of  buttermilk. 
We  were  there  for  some  time  before  we  were 
hauled  up  to  father's  house  in  the  Brownsboro 
settlement  in  1846.  Grandmother  and  Gina, 
with  Lasson,  left  us  when  we  got  to  Shreve 
port." 

I  reproduce  the  above  letter,  partly  because 
it  bears  directly  on  the  life  of  Johan  E.  Eeier- 
feon,  and  partly  because  it  shows  us  vividly, 
what  troubles  and  difficulties  our  early  Norwe 
gian  immigrants  had  to  contend  with.  Eeier- 
son's  experiences  are  a  fair  sample. 

A  few  Norwegians  and  a  Danish  family  were 
added  to  the  Brownsboro  settlement  about 
Christmas,  1846,  and  settled  near  the  Eeier- 
sons;  but  the  next  year,  1847,  they  all  became 
sick  and  some  of  them  died. 

About  New  Year's,  1848,  Eeierson,  with  his 
family,  moved  to  Four  Mile  Prairie,  'and  there 
he  founded  the  little  town  of  Prairieville. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he  married 


ELISE   WAERENSKJOLD.  379 


the  widow  of  his  brother  Christian. 
maiden  name  was  Ouline  Jacobine  Orbek,  and 
she  was  a  daughter  of  a  merchant  in  Lillesand, 
in  Norway.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  no  chil 
dren.  Of  his  children  by  his  first  wife,  three 
are  living,  viz.  :  1.  Oscar,  the  writer  of  the  above 
letter.  2.  John,  who  owns  a  large  hotel  in 
Kaufman,  Texas;  and  3.  Christian,  who  lives 
in  Indian  Territory.  The  first  two  married 
American  wives.  Johan  Keinert  Reierson 
died  at  Prairieville,  September  6,  1864,  and 
there  his  widow  still  resides.  For  these  facts 
in  regard  to  the  founder  of  the  first  Norwegian 
settlement  in  Texas,  I  am  mainly  indebted  to 
that  intelligent  and  kind  old  lady,  Elise  Wseren- 
skjold. 


XXVL 

Elise  Waerenskjold 

Those  who  went  with  Reierson  from  Norway 
in  1845,  were,  besides  those  already  named, 
several  peasants  from  Ssetersdal.  In  New  Or 
leans,  the  SsBterdalians  were  frightened  from 
proceeding  to  Texas,  and  went  to  the  Norwe 
gian  settlements  in  the  northern  states. 


380  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

When  the  name,  Normandy,  was  dropped, 
and  Brownsboro  substituted,  I  have  not 
learned,  but  it  must  have  been  very  soon  after 
the  founding  of  the  settlement. 

The  Norwegians  who  arrived  Christmas, 
1840,  were  from  Ombli  Parish  in  Norway.  The 
year  1817,  when  Reierson  moved  to  Four  Mile 
Prairie,  and  founded  Prairieville,  marks  the 
foundation  of  the  second  Norwegian  settle 
ment  in  Texas.  This  second  settlement  soon 
received  accretions  both  from  Brownsboro  and 
from  Norway. 

There  being  considerable  sickness  in  the 
early  days  of  both  these  settlements,  many 
of  the  settlers  removed  to  Bosque  county, 
where  the  third  Norwegian  settlement  in  Texas 
was  started,  and  which  is  at  present,  the  larg 
est  and  most  flourishing  Norwegian  settlement 
in  the  state  of  Texas.  Of  the  starting  of  the 
Bosque  settlement,  I  shall  give  some  account, 
further  on.  Mrs.  Elise  Wserenskjold  spent 
forty-six  years  of  her  life  at  Four  Mile  Prairie. 

In  the  winter  1853-1854,  tlie  first  Norwegian 
Lutheran  church  was  built  at  Four  MiJ^ 
Prairie,  and  the  first  Norwegian  minister  came 
there  from  Norway  in  1854.  In  1894,  there 
were  nineteen  Norwegian  families  in  that  set 
tlement. 


ELISE   WAERENSKJOLD.  381 

In  1853,  the  wife  of  Dean  Fredriksen  wfote 
to  Mrs.  Waerenskjold,  that  her  son,  Emil  Fred- 
eriksen,  a  jroung  candidate  in  theology,  desired 
to  go  to  Texas  as  a  minister,  and  the  offer  was 
accepted  by  the  Norwegians  in  Brownsboro 
and  on  Four  Mile  Prairie.  Emil  Frederiksen 
came  in  1854,  and  served  these  congregations 
as  their  pastor  for  three  years,  and  he  also 
visited  Bosque  county,  where  the  third  Norwe 
gian  settlement  in  Texas  had  been  started. 

Before  this  minister  came,  either  Wilhelm 
Wssrenskjold,  or  another  man  who  had  been 
a  school  teacher  in  Norway,  baptized  the  chil 
dren  that  were  born,  according  to  the  Norwe 
gian  Lutheran  ritual  (Mrs.  Wserenskjold  had 
with  her  her  father's  ritual),  buried  the  dead 
and  conducted  a  Sunday  school.  Mr.  Wseren- 
skjold  also  organized  a  temperance  society  at 
Four  Mile  Prairie.  Mrs.  Wserenskjold  writes 
me  that  they  received  visits  from  Elling  Eiel- 
sen,  and  that  they  were  pleased  with  his  zeal 
for' the  cause  of  Christianity  and  morality. 

Both  the  first  settlements  founded  by  Keier- 
son  were  at  that  time  in  Henderson  county,  the 
county  seat  of  which  was  Buffalo,  a  little  town 
on  Trinity  river,  but  this  town  is  long  since 
abandoned.  Henderson  county  is  divided; 
but  the  oldest  settlement,  Brownsboro,  is  still 


382  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

in  Henderson  county,  while  Four  Mile  Prairie 
was  divided  so  that  half  of  the  settlement  is 
in  Van  Zandt  and  the  other  half  in  Kaufman 
county.  Mrs.  Wserenskj  old's  home  was  in  Van 
Zandt  county,  and  Reierson's  in  Kaufman 
county. 

The  majority  of  the  Norwegians  in  Texas 
are  from  Hedemarken.  The  first  two  who 
came  from  there  at  the  instigation  of  Andreas 
Gjsestvang,  Postmaster  in  Loiten,  Hedemarken, 
were  an  old  school  teacher,  Engelhoug,  and  an 
elderly  farmer,  Knud  Olson.  The  latter  was  a 
capable  workman,  and  an  honest  man,  and  his 
daughter  and  her  children  are  now  living  in 
comfortable  circumstances  in  Bosque  county. 

The  Postmaster  Gjaestvang,  in  Loiten,  took 
the  paper  published  by  Keinert  and  Christian 
Reierson,  but  when  Christian  also  emigrated 
to  America  in  1846,  nobody  cared  to  be  the 
publisher  of  so  dangerous  a  paper,  which  in 
duced  people  to  emigrate.  In  order  that  the 
paper  should  not  suspend,  Mrs.  Waerenskjold 
assumed  the  responsibilities  of  publisher. 
One  day  Mr.  Gjsestvang  came  to  Christiania, 
to  talk  with  the  publisher,  and  was  not  a  little 
surprised  when  he  found  that  C.  Tvede  was  a 
woman,  and  from  that  time,  Gjsestvang  and 
Mrs.  Waerenskjold  became  friends  and  corres- 


ELISE   WAERENSKJOLD.  883 

pendents.  Some  time  after  Mrs.  Warenskjold 
had  settled  in  Texas,  Hamar  Budstikke,  which 
seized  every  bad  report  about  America 
with  avidity,  had  made  a  valuable  discovery 
in  a  French  romance,  being  a  description  of 
travel  in  Texas.  Gjsestvang  took  the  trouble 
of  copying  all  this  nonsense  and  sent  it  to  Mrs. 
WsBrenskjold  in  Texas,  requesting  her  to  make 
a  reply  to  it.  Mrs.  Waerenskjold,  with  the  aid 
of  John  Nordboe,  and  Kleng  Peerson  made  the 
necessary  corrections,  and  Mr.  Wserenskjold 
also  wrote  an  article  on  the  same  subject. 
All  Mrs.  Wserenskj old's  article,  with  quotations 
from  John  Nordboe  and  Kleng  Peerson,  and 
Mr.  Wserenskj  old's  article,  were  first  published 
in  the  Hamar  Budstikke,  and  afterwards  in 
pamphlet  form,  and  had  a  far-reaching  influ 
ence  on  the  Norwegian  emigration  to  Texas. 

The  Wserenskj  old's  home  became  a  try  sting- 
place  for  all  Norwegian  immigrants  to  Texas, 
and  many  are  the  stories  told  about  the  hos 
pitality  of  that  family. 

Mrs.  Elise  Wserenskjold  is  a  notable  person 
in  Norwegian  American  history.  She  was  al 
ways  busy  with  her  pen,  and  many  are  the  val 
uable  articles  written  from  time  to  time  in  the 
Scandinavian  press  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlan 
tic. 


NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Her  maiden  name  was  Tvede,  and  she  was 
born  in  Vestre  Moland,  in  Norway,  where  her 
father  was  a  minister  (Provst),  February  19, 
1815.  Her  mother  died  in  1839,  and  that  same 
year  she  married  the  far-famed  Svend  Foyen, 
who  by  his  success  in  the  whaling  industry, 
became  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  cele 
brated  men  of  Norway.  As  their  views  on 
many  subjects  did  not  harmonize,  they  agreed 
to  separate,  and  they  parted  as  friends. 
Though  not  again  married,  she  came  to  Texas 
in  company  with  the  man  who  was  to  be  her 
second  husband,  in  1847.  She  first  lived  a 
short  time  with  Christian  Grogaard's  widow, 
in  Nacogdoches.  C.  Grogaard  and  his  two 
youngest  children  had  died.  In  the  beginning 
of  October,  1847,  she  came  to  the  Normandy 
settlement,  which  was  afterwards  called 
Brownsboro.  There  were  fifteen  Norwegian 
families  in  that  settlement  when  she  arrived 
there,  but  the  most  of  them  were  living  on  low 
lands  and  were  sick  and  despondent.  Mrs. 
Waerenskjold,  still  Mrs.  Foyen,  bought  land  on 
Four  Mile  Prairie  in  1848,  and  about  that  time, 
she  married  Wilhelm  Wierenskjold.  With  him 
she  lived  a  very  happy  life,  but  unfortunately, 
he  wTas  assassinated  during  the  civil  war,  on 
account  of  his  sympathy  for  the  North.  With 


ELISE  WAERENSKJOLD.  385 

Mr.  Wserenskjold,  she  had  two  sons,  Nils,  who 
now  occupies  the  old  homestead  at  Prairie- 
ville,  and  Otto,  who  for  some  time  past  has 
resided  at  Hamilton,  Hamilton  county.  Both 
sons  are  married  to  American  ladies. 

Just  as  I  had  finished  writing  the  above 
sketch  of  this  dear  old  lady,  I  was  startled  by 
the  information  that  she  had  died  January  22, 
1895,  only  two  weeks  ago.  I  recently  had  a 
letter  from  her,  in  which  she  tells  me  that  she 
had  returned  from  a  long  journey  visiting 
old  friends,  and  that  she  now  had  settled  down 
in  Hamilton,  to  remain  there  until  her  dying 
day.  She  was  eighty  years  old,  but  a  well 
preserved  woman.  Mrs.  Wserenskjold  was  an 
eminent  personality.  No  other  Norwegian  in 
Texas  was  better  known  than  she.  She  took 
the  deepest  interest  in  all  things  both  in  Eu 
rope  and  in  America.  In  her  last  letter  to  me, 
she  discussed  the  death  of  Svend  Foyen,  which 
occurred  recently  in  Norway.  She  was  busy 
writing  the  history  of  the  Norwegian  settle 
ments  in  Texas,  but  a  few  days  before  she 
died,  she  wrote  to  her  good  friend,  Mr.  O.  Ca- 
nuteson,  of  Waco,  Texas,  and  complained  that 
she  was  sick  and  said  she  did  not  think  she 
would  be  able  to  complete  her  history.  It  is 
25 


NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 


to  be  hoped  that  some  intelligent  person  will 
secure  her  manuscript,  and  make  the  neces 
sary  additions  for  publication.  Although  I 
never  had  the  good  fortune  of  meeting  Mrs. 
Wssrenskjold,  my  correspondence  with  her 
caused  me  to  esteem  most  highly,  this  gifted, 
scholarly,  kind,  brave  and  noble  woman. 


XXVII. 
Ole  Canuteson. 

In  1850,  Ole  Canuteson  and  his  father  Knud 
Knudson,  came  to  his  uncle,  Halvor  Knudson, 
in  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement.  His  mother  died 
from  cholera  on  the  way  from  Chicago  to  Ot 
tawa.  In  the  Fox  Eiver  settlement,  they 
found  Kleng  Peerson,  just  back  from  a  trip  to 
Texas,  and  on  his  advice  and  promise  to  ac 
company  them,  they  concluded  to  go  to  Texas. 
They  went  to  Dallas  county  and  remained 
there  three  years,  near  where  Johan  Nordboe 
was  then  living.  No  Norwegian  settlement 
was  founded  there.  In  1853,  they  went  to 
Bosque  county,  and  Kleng  Peerson  went  with 
them  not  as  a  leader  this  time,  but  as  a  fol- 


OLE  CANUTESON.  38? 

lower,  as  he  was  now  too  old  to  lead  in  settle 
ment  enterprises. 

When  Canuteson  and  his  party  came  to 
Texas  in  the  fall  of  1850,  they  stopped  a  while 
at  Nordboe's.  He  lived  on  a  high  prairie,  five 
•miles  south  of  Dallas.  He  had  then  lived 
there  twelve  years,  and  his  houses  already 
looked  old.  Nordboe  came  to  Texas  at  a  time 
when  the  state  gave  one  section  of  land  to  each 
married  man  and  half  a  section  to  each  one  of 
his  children.  As  has  been  heretofore  shown, 
JoTian  Nordboe  had  availed  himself  'of  this 
liberality  on  the  part  of  Texas.  He  got  640 
acres  for  himself,  and  320  for  each  one  of  his 
three  sons,  who  came  with  him,  and  also 
320  acres  for  the  married  daughter  who  still 
lived  in  Illinois.  In  1350,  this  daughter  in  Il 
linois  had  died,  and  John,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Johan  Nordboe,  came  to  Illinois  to  fetch  the 
children.  John  and  these  children  then  joined 
Kleng  Peerson  and  the  Canutesons,  and  they 
all  went  together  to  Texas,  where  Nordboe's 
grandchildren  received  the  inheritance  of 
their  deceased  mother. 

The  Canutesons  bought  land  five  miles  south 
from  Johan  Nordboe,  that  is  to  say,  ten  miles 
south  of  Dallas.  There  they  lived  three  years 
.and  then  moved  to  Bosque  county. 


888  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

The  third    Norwegian  settlement    in  Texas 
was  in  Bosque  county.     It  w^as  founded  by  Ole 
Canuteson  in  the  fall  of  1853,  and  it  soon  be 
came  the  largest  in  the  state.     The  postoffice 
wras  Norman  Hill,  and  Ole  Canuteson  was  the 
postmaster  from  its  beginning  until  he  moved 
to  Waco.     The  confederate  government   kept 
him  in  office  during  the  war,  and  when  the  re 
bellion   had  ended  the  postoffice  department 
at  Washington  did  not  disturb  him.     He  spent 
three  years  in  Dallas  county,  fifteen  years  in 
Bosque  county,  and  since  1868  he  has  resided 
at  Waco,  where  he  owns  the  Riverside  foun 
dry  and  machine  shop.     He  is  a  very  intelli 
gent  and  well  read  man,  and  he  has  been  of 
very  great  help  to  me  in  supplying  me  with 
information    concerning    Kleng    Peerson    and 
Johan  Nordboe,  both  of  whom  he  knew  very  in 
timately,  and  he  has  given  me  many  valuable 
facts  regarding  the  early  settlements  in  Texas. 
The  Norwegian  settlement  in  Bosque  count.' 
now  contains  about  2,000  people.     They  have 
a  Norwegian  Lutheran  church,  and  a  Norwe 
gian  Lutheran  minister  resides  among  them. 
As  the  founder  of  the  largest  and  most  pros 
perous    Norwegian    settlement   in  Texas,    Ole 
Canuteson  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice. 
I  am  not  able  to  do  justice  to  his  interesting 


OLE  CANUTESON. 


and  important  career  in  this  meager  sketch 
of  the  Norwegians  in  Texas,  but  I  am  happy 
to  be  able  to  give  a  few  additional  facts  in 
regard  to  him. 

Ole  Canuteson  was  born  September  4,  1832, 
on  the  island  of  Karmo  (Karmt),  an  island 
which  abounds  in  monuments  of  antiquity,  on 
the  farm  Nordstokke,  near  Kobbervig,  in  the 
parish  of  the  famous  Augsvaldsnaes  in  Sta- 
vanger  Amt.  One  of  his  uncles,  Halvor  Knud- 
son,  emigrated  to  America  so  early  that  he 
settled  in  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement  about  the 
same  time  as  Gjert  Gregoriuson  Hovland,  and 
became  his  neighbor.  A  younger  uncle,  Jens, 
emigrated  somewhat  later  in  company  with  a 
fiddler,  Sjur  Dale,  who  afterwards  became  a 
Mormon. 

When  Kleng  Peerson  visited  Norway  in 
1842,  he  brought  with  him  many  letters  from 
America  to  Ole  Canuteson's  father  and  to 
others.  In  1850  his  parents  resolved  to  go 
to  America,  and  he  took  passage  in  the  Kohler 
brig,  commanded  by  Capt.  Westergaard.  In 
this  same  ship  came  Eev.  A.  C.  Preus  with  his 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Engel  Bruun. 
Captain  Westergaard  also  had  his  wife  with 
him  on  board.  The  second  mate  was  a  son  of 
the  Kev.  Kauring,  of  Tarvestad.  Six  weeks 


890  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

after  leaving  Stavanger  they  landed  in  New 
York.  On  the  propeller,  between  Buffalo  and 
Chicago,  cholera  attacked  the  passengers,  and 
a  Norwegian  woman  died  and  was  buried  on 
an  island  in  the  straits  of  Mackinac. 

As  has  been  seen  in  earlier  pages  of  this  vol 
ume,  cholera  had  raged  fearfully  both  in  the 
Fox  Kiver  settlement  and  in  Muskego  in  the 
summer  of  1849,  and  in  1850  the  epidemic  re 
turned  claiming  many  victims.  Many  of  those 
who  landed  in  Milwaukee  were  sick,  and  a  num 
ber  of  them  died  after  reaching  their  respective 
settlements  in  Wisconsin.  Cholera  committed 
great  depredations  on  Koshkonong  in  1850,  and 
claimed  my  father  and  brother  as  its  victims. 

When  the  rest  of  the  immigrants  landed  in 
Chicago  all  were  apparently  well,  but  on  board 
the  canal-boat  which  carried  them  to  Ottawa, 
the  dreadful  disease  made  its  appearance,  and 
among  those  who  died  was  Ole  Canuteson's 
mother.  When  the  people  in  the  Fox  Eiver 
settlement  heard  of  the  cholera  they  were 
panic-stricken  and  did  not  dare  to  receive  the 
new-comers.  Finally  the  Canutesons  received 
shelter  in  a  school-house,  and  fortunately  chol 
era  did  not  make  its  appearance  again.  Land 
was  at  that  time  selling  in  La  Salle  county  for 
ten  dollars  an  acre.  Ole  Canuteson's  father 


OLE  CANUTESON.  3»1 

had  only  five  hundred  dollars,  and  did  not  dare 
to  run  in  debt  for  a  Tarm  and  stock  and  im 
plements,  and  he  contemplated  going  to  Iowa, 
where  land  was  to  be  had  for  less  money.  In 
the  meantime  they  had  left  the  school-house 
and  were  living  at  the  house  of  Halvor  Knud- 
son,  and  while  they  were  considering  what 
was  best  to  do,  Kleng  Peerson  came  there  one 
day.  He  had  just  returned  from  a  journey  to 
Texas,  and  he  was  chock  full  of  stories  of  that 
wonderland.  He  said  land  could  be  bought 
in  Dallas  county,  Texas,  with  as  deep  and  as 
black  soil  as  that  of  Illinois  for  fifty  cents  per 
acre,  and  he  told  the  truth.  The  result  was 
that  they  resolved  to  take  Kleng  Peerson's  ad 
vice,  and  he  agreed-  to  go  with  them.  In  the 
midst  of  these  discussions  as  to  where  to  lo 
cate,  Ole  Canuteson,  young  as  he  was.  married 
a  young  lady  of  his  own  age,  Miss  Ellen  Maline 
Gunderson,  a  girl  who  also  had  come  from  the 
famous  Karino. 

John,  one  of  Johan  Nordboe's  sons,  had  also 
returned  from  Texas  to  bring  to  their  grand 
parents  three  children  left  by  a  daughter  of 
Johan  Nordboe.  The  mother  had  died  in  the 
Fox  River  settlement  or  in  Lee  county  near 
Leland.  The  result  was  that  Kleng  Peerson, 
Ole  Canuteson  and  his  young  wife  and  his 


392  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

father,  and  John  Nordboe  and  his  sister's  chil 
dren,  formed  a  party  and  set  out  for  Texas. 
They  went  by  canal-boat  from  Ottawa  to  La 
Salle,  thence  by  steamer  to  St.  Louis,  thence 
by  another  steamer  to  New  Orleans,  and  tnen 
by  still  another  steamer  to  Shreveport.  In 
New  Orleans  they  were  joined  by  two  other 
Norwegians  from  Throndhjem.  They  got  a 
wagon  to  haul  the  children  and  the  baggage 
to  a  little  town  called  Greenwood,  sixteen  miles 
on  the  way  to  Dallas.  There  they  rented  a 
house,  and  in  it  they  left  Mrs.  Canuteson  and 
The  Nordboe  children,  and  the  rest  of  the  party 
footed  it  to  Dallas.  Ole  Canuteson,  John  Nord 
boe  and  the  two  men  from  Throndhjem  took 
the  shortest  route,  while  Kleng  Peerson  and 
Ole  Canuteson's  father  took  a  longer  route  as 
they  desired  to  visit  the  Norwegian  settlements 
in  east  Texas.  Ole  Canuteson  and  his  com 
rades  camped  out  at  night,  though  it  was  the 
month  of  December,  and  after  eight  days' 
travel  they  reached  Johan  Nordboe's  home, 
having  gone  a  distance  of  200  miles.  Kleng 
Peerson  had  instructed  them  not  to  locate  in 
the  Norwegian  settlements  east  of  Trinity  river 
under  any  circumstances,  and  they  obeyed  him. 
Then  John  Nordboe  hitched  a  yoke  of  large 
oxen  to  a  light  wagon  and  went  after  Ole 


OLE  CANUTESON.  898 

Canuteson's  wife  and  the  three  children  that 
he  was  to  bring  to  their  grandparents.  By 
the  time  they  all  got  united  again  it  was 
Christmas.  The  Canntesons  bought  320  acres 
of  land  from  a  man  who  had  received  G40  acres 
from  the  state  for  living  on  it.  The  price  was 
fifty  cents  per  acre,  and  it  was  located  ten 
miles  south  of  Dallas.  In  Dallas  there  were 
then  only  a  few  houses  along  the  river.  They 
broke  twenty  acres,  and  hauled  rails  six  miles 
to  fence  thein  in  with.  They  built  a  tolerably 
good  house,  sawing  the  planks  for  it  them 
selves  with  a  whipsaw. 

In  1852  the  Texas  legislature  again  resolved 
to  donate  land  to  actual  settlers  who  had  not 
already  received  land  in  that  way.  Now  it 
was  the  Canutesons'  turn  to  get  land  without 
paying  for  it,  and  this  opportunity  must  not 
be  neglected.  In  August,  1853,  Ole  Canuteson 
and  one  of  his  American  neighbors  left  Dallas 
to  look  for  land.  Vacant  land  was  found  by 
them  near  Bosque  river,  a  tributary  of  the 
Brazas.  The  county  was  afterwards  organized 
as  Bosque  county.  This  land  suited  them,  and 
Ole  Canuteson  selected  about  300  acres  for 
himself  and  a  similar  amount  for  his  father. 
Later  many  families  came  there  from  the  other 
Norwegian  settlements,  all  getting  land  for 


391  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

nothing  or  buying  it  for  a  small  price  from 
those  who  had  homesteads.  The  Canutesons 
sold  their  land  in  Dallas  and  moved  to  Bosque, 
and  Kleng  Peerson  went  with  them  as  he  was 
now,  so  to  speak,  one  of  the  family.  Ole 
Canuteson's  father  had  married  in  the  mean 
time  a  girl  from  the  Brownsboro  settlement 
in  Henderson  county.  The  next  year  a  ship 
from  Arendal  in  Norway  brought  a  lot  of  emi 
grants,  and  many  of  them  came  direct  to 
Bosque. 

The  following  persons  have  been  mentioned 
to  me  as  the  first  Norwegian  settlers  in  Bosque 
county,  Texas:  Ole  Canuteson,  with  family; 
Canute  Canuteson;  Ole  Peerson;  Kleng  Peer- 
son,  single;  Carl  Qvastad,  with  family;  Jens 
Ringnes;  Jens  Jenson;  Mrs.  Annie  Bronstad; 
Ole  Ween,  single;  Andrew  Bretten,  single,  the 
first  Norwegian  that  died  in  the  settlement; 
Andrew  Huse,  single. 

Among  later-comers  to  Bosque  county  are 
mentioned  Henrik  Dahl,  with  family;  B.  E. 
Swenson;  O.  Calwick;  O.  Olson;  O.  Johnson; 
P.  Poulson. 

Many  left  the  older  settlements  in  Texas  and 
came  to  Bosque,  and  others  came  either  direct 
from  Norway  or  from  Illinois,  and  before  many 
years  it  became  the  largest  Norwegian  settle- 


RESUME.  895 

ment  in  Texas,  which  it  still  is.  It  is  to  be 
said  with  emphasis  in  regard  to  the  Norwegian 
settlers  in  Texas  that  they  made  very  poor 
rebels  during  the  civil  war,  but  of  course  they 
had  to  be  discreet,  witness  the  fate  of  Mr. 
Wserenskjold.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  Canuteson  have 
had  six  children,  of  which  five  are  living,  four 
daughters  and  one  son.  The  daughters  are 
all  married,  and  the  son  is  still  single. 


XXVIIL 

Resume. 

The  first  Norwegian  to  settle  in  Texas  was 
Johan  Nordboe. 

The  father  of  Norwegian  immigration  to 
Texas  and  the  founder  of  the  first  two  settle 
ments  was  Johan  Reinert  Keierson. 

The  founder  of  the  third,  the  largest  and 
most  prosperous  settlement  in  Texas  was  O. 
Canuteson. 

The  first  Norwegian  Lutheran  church  was 
built  in  Texas  in  the  winter  of  1853--1854. 

Emil  Frederiksen  was  the  first  Norwegian 
Lutheran  minister  in  Texas,  and  he  came  there 
in  1854. 


396  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 


XXIX. 

RELIGIOUS    WORK    AMONG    THE    NOR- 

WEGIANS  IN  AMERICA  DOWN 

TO    THE  YEAR    1845. 

Introductory. 

To  present  a  correct  statement  of  the  re 
ligious  work  done  among  the  Norwegian  im 
migrants  from  1825  to  1845  is  exceedingly -dif 
ficult.  We  have  scarcely  any  records  to  guide 
us,  and  the  most  of  those  living  at  the  time 
are  either  dead  or  if  living  were  too  young  to 
grasp  and  remember  what  was  going  on.  This 
much  is  certain  that  there  was  nothing  that 
could  be  called  a  Norwegian  Lutheran  congre 
gation  or  minister  in  America  before  1843. 

Many  of  those  who  came  in  the  sloop  and 
some  of  those  who  came  later  were  Quakers. 
Instead  of  organizing  themselves  separately 
they  naturally  attached  themselves  to  Amer 
ican  Quaker  societies  and  worshipped  with 
them.  This  I  know  was  the  case  with  Lars 
Larson  i  Jeilane  in  Rochester,  with  Ingebret 
Larson  Narvig  in  Michigan,  and  with  the  Ros- 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  DOWN   TO   1845.  397 

sadals  and  Olsons  in  the  Fox  Elver  settlement. 
Some  of  the  early  Norwegian  immigrants  had 
no  profound  religious  convictions,  and  might 
properly  be  called  agnostics.  I  have  myself 
known  a  considerable  number  both  of  the 
sloopers  and  of  those  who  came  in  183G  and 
in  1837,  who  were  not  only  destitute  of  reli 
gious  convictions,  but  who  seemed  utterly  to 
despise  and  were  fond  of  ridiculing  ministers, 
churches,  the  Bible  and  religious  people.  I 
could  mention  many  of  these  by  name,  but  I 
forbear.  It  seems  that  some  of  these  agnostics 
had  acquired  their  hostility  to  the  church  and 
to  religion  before  they  emigrated  from  Nor 
way.  They  merely  became  louder  and  more 
outspoken  in  their  ridicule  and  denunciations 
after  they  got  their  feet  on  the  free  soil  of 
America. 

But  still  the  great  majority  of  these  early 
immigrants  were  devoted  to  religion.  Many 
were  Lutherans,  and  among  these  a  consid 
erable  number  were  so-called  Headers  or  II au- 
gians.  Of  the  religious  aspect  of  the  colony 
in  Kendall,  New  York,  I  know  but  little.  They 
had  no  church  or  school  of  their  own,  and  no 
minister.  I  know  only  from  hearsay  that 
those  among  them  who  were  religiously  in 
clined  held  devotional  exercises  in  their  fam- 


398  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

ilies,  and  on  Sundays  several  families  would 
get  together  for  worship. 

I  am  credibly  informed  that  Bjorn  Hatle- 
stad,  who  died  about  fifteen  years  ago  on  Odd 
Himle's  farm  in  Dane  county,  came  to  Amer 
ica  about  the  year  183G,  and  that  he  held  re 
ligious  services  for  a  time  after  his  arrival  in 
the  Kendall  settlement.  There  is  but  little 
doubt  that  Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  who  came  in 
the  sloop,  also  held  religious  services  in  the 
Kendall  settlement,  and  so  it  appears  that 
these  two,  Hetletvedt  and  Hatlestad,  were  the 
first  to  preach  and  conduct  religious  services 
among  the  Norwegian  immigrants.  Both  of 
course  belonged  to  the  Haugian  branch  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

In  1834  and  1835  a  large  number  of  the  Ken 
dall  settlers  moved  west  to  Illinois,  and  there 
did  not  remain  enough  of  the  colony  to  main 
tain  any  distinct  church  organization. 

In  the  Fox  River  settlement  all  was  chaos 
and  confusion  during  the  early  days  of  the; 
colony.  Some  of  the  Norwegians  there  were 
Quakers,  others  Baptists,  others  Presbyterians, 
others  Methodists,  others  Lutherans,  others 
Mormons,  and  some  were  free-thinkers,  all  in 
inextricable  disorder. 


THE  MORMONS.  899 

XXX. 

The  Mormons. 

The  Mormons,  or  more  properly,  the  church 
of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,  secured  a  consider 
able  following  among  the  Norwegians  in  La 
Salle  county.      There  Gudmund  Haugaas  be 
came  a  high  priest  of  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 
His  son  Thomas  succeeded  him  as  a  minister  in 
the  church  of  Latter  Day  Saints  and  is  still 
preaching    to    a    congregation    of    about    one 
hundred  and  forty  members.      A  man  by  the 
name  of   Jorgen    Pederson,    who   had    been  a 
school  teacher  in  Norway,  was  chosen  by  the 
Haugians  to  administer  the  sacraments.     At 
one  time    he  administered   the  Lord's  Supper 
in   the   Indian   Creek   settlement,  which    was 
started  near  Leland  in  1836.     It  was  doubtless 
the  intention  that  Jorgen  Pederson  was  to  be 
ordained  and  be  regularly  authorized  to  ad 
minister  the  sacraments,    but  he   soon    after 
wards  joined  the  church  of  Latter  Day  Saints. 
The  Haugians  lost  another  conspicuous   and 
sturdy  leader  in  Ole  Ileier.     He  was  from  Tin 
in  Thelemarken,  where  his  name  had  been  Ole 


400  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

Olson  Omdal.  In  Thelemarken  he  was  re 
garded  as  a  pious  Reader,  and  had  conducted 
Haugian  meetings,  and  when  he  first  caine  to 
the  Fox  River  settlement  he  was  active  in  hold 
ing  gospel  meetings  in  the  interest  of  the  Ha;u- 
gians.  lie  is  said  to  have  been  of  a  most  win-, 
ning  personality  and  to  have  possessed  remark 
able  gifts  as  a  speaker,  but  he,  too,  joined  the 
church  of  Latter  Day  Saints  and  was  made 
first  an  elder  and  then  a  bishop  in  that  organi 
zation.  When  the  church  moved  to  Utah, 
Heier  remained  in  Illinois,  and  finally  joined 
the  Close  Communion  Baptists,  and  preached 
for  them  some  years.  In  1868  he  went  to 
Iowa,  and  died  there  in  1873  as  heretofore 
stated.  His  son  writes  me:  "Soon  after  com 
ing  to  America,  my  father  (Ole  Olson  Heier) 
was  taken  in  by  the  Mormon  faith,  but  on  a 
visit  to  Nauvoo,  111.,  where  the  Mormons  were 
preparing  to  emigrate  to  the  west,  he  was  one 
of  the  first  to  get  his  eyes  open  to  the  terrible 
work  of  the  church  he  had  espoused.  He  then 
left  the  Mormon  church,  joined  the  Baptist 
church  and  held  meetings  as  a  layman."  One 
of  his  old  acquaintances  writes  me  that  Ole 
Heier  belonged  to  seven  different  churches,  but 
of  course  this  is  an  exaggeration.  All  I  can 


THE   MORMONS.  401 

make  out  is  three,  or  if  we  count  the  Readers  as 
distinct  from  the  Lutherans,  four. 

Knud  Peterson  was  one  of  the  seventy  dis 
ciples  of  the  church  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  who, 
as  an  Evangelist,  -did  service  as  an  itinerant 
preacher.  Gudmund  Haugaas  and  Knud  Pet 
erson  visited  Koshkonong  while  Dietrichson 
was  pastor  there.  They  were  well  treated  by 
Dietrichson  at  his  house.  This  Knud  Peter 
son  I  have  been  able  to  trace,  as  will  be  seen, 
in  an  earlier  part  of  this  volume. 

He  married  Sarah  A.,  a  daughter  of  the 
slooper,  Cornelius  Nelson  Hersdal,  and  moved 
to  Salt  Lake  City  in  1849.  Under  date  of 
January  20,  1895,  Mrs.  Bishop  Peterson  writes: 

"In  1849  I  left  all  that  was  near  and  dear  to 
me  and  cast  my  lot  with  a  people  commonly 
called  Mormons.  On  July  2  of  that  year  I 
married  Canute  Peterson,  and  we  at  once  went 
to  Utah.  We  were  five  months  crossing  the 
plains  and  deserts  and  the  Rocky  mountains. 
We  located  in  Salt  Lake  City,  which  was  only 
a  small  village  at  that  time." 

Having  learned  that  Sarah,  the  daughter  of 

a    slooper,     was   the   wife    of    the   bishop    of 

Ephrairn,    and  that  Bishop    Canute    Peterson 

was  the  .same  person  as  Knud  Peterson,  who, 

20 


402  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

in  company  with  Gudmund  Haugaas,  pro 
claimed  Mormonism  on  our  dear  old  Koshko- 
nong,  and  was  entertained  by  Rev.  Dietrich- 
son  in  1845,  I  concluded  that  he,  too,  must  be 
one  of  our  pioneers  to  be  sketched  in  this  vol 
ume,  and  accordingly  I  wrote  to  his  wife  for 
more  information  in  regard  to  his  life.  In  re 
ply  I  received  the  following  interesting  letter 
dated  March  9,  1895.  It  throws  much  light 
upon  the  work  done  by  the  Mormons  among 
the  Scandinavians. 

"Ephraim,  March  9,  1895. 
"Kasmus  B.  Anderson,  Esq., 

"Dear  Sir:  As  you  requested  me  to  write 
about  my  husband  I  will  try  to  give  you  a  few 
facts.  He  is  still  living  and  in  good  health. 
He  was  born  in  Eidsfjord,  Hardanger,  Norway, 
May  13,  1824,  and  emigrated  with  his  parents 
in  1837.  They  settled  in  La  Salle  county,  111. 
My  husband's  father  died  in  1838,  and  his 
mother  in  1848.  He  was  married  in  1849,  emi 
grating  to  Utah  the  same  year.  He  resided 
in  Salt  Lake  City  for  eighteen  months,  and 
there  our  first  child,  Peter  Cornelius  Peterson, 
was  born  June  22,  1850,  being  the  first  Norwe 
gian  male  child  born  in  Utah.  In  July,  1850, 
my  husband,  with  others,  was  called  to  settle 
the  place  now  called  Lehi,  thirty  miles  south 


THE   MORMONS.  403 

of  Salt  Lake  City,  where  the  great  sugar  fac 
tory  was  built,  which  last  year  produced  be 
tween  five  and  six  million  pounds  of  first  class 
sugar.  The  Lehi  sugar  took  the  first  prize  at 
the  world's  fair  in  Chicago.  In  1852  my  hus 
band  was  called  to  take  a  mission  in  Norway. 
He  remained  in  Norway  four  years,  and  re 
turned  in  1856.  He  visited  nearly  all  the  prin 
cipal  cities  in  Norway,  and  brought  with  him 
about  600  Scandinavian  immigrants.  At  that 
time  they  were  obliged  to  cross  the  plains  with 
teams. 

"We  lived  in  Lehi  until  1867,  when  my  hus 
band  was  called  to  go  to  Sanpete,  and  we  now 
reside  at  Ephraim,  one  hundred  miles  south 
of  Lehi.  At  this  time  the  Indians  had  become 
very  hostile,  and  war  was  raging  between  them 
and  the  settlers.  Many  people  were  killed, 
and  the  most  of  their  cattle  and  horses  were 
either  stolen  or  killed.  Under  these  trying 
circumstances  Mr.  Peterson  was  called  to  take 
the  lead  as  bishop  of  this  place.  A  bishop 
with  us  takes  the  lead  in  temporal  as  well  as 
in  spiritual  affairs.  The  first  thing  he  did  was 
to  send  teams  and  guards  to  bring  the  settlers 
from  the  smaller  settlements,  where  they  were 
not  able  to  protect  themselves.  A  fort  was 
built  of  stone,  and  men  were  put  on  guard  to 


404  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION 

protect  the  people.  From  that  time  but  few 
people  were  killed,  and  scarcely  any  cattle 
were  stolen.  In  one  of  the  raids  our  son  Peter 
with  others  went  up  in  the  mountains  to  re 
cover  some  horses,  but  the  Indians  lying  in 
ambush  shot  at  the  men.  Our  son  had  his 
horse  shot  from  under  him,  and  he  and  his 
men  were  glad  to  get  back  with  their  scalps. 

"This  was  continued  a  little  over  two  years, 
but  finally  the  Indians  saw  that  they  were  out 
generaled.  Ten  of  their  chiefs  came  down 
from  the  mountains  and  stopped  in  front  of 
our  gate.  We  were  very  much  surprised,  not 
knowing  their  intentions.  My  husband  went 
out  to  meet  them  and  asked  them  what  they 
wanted.  They  dismounted,  and  said  they 
wanted  to  talk.  He  invited  them  to  come  in 
and  at  once  sent  for  two  interpreters.  After 
they  had  eaten  a  hearty  dinner  at  our  table, 
my  husband  asked  them  if  they  felt  like  fight 
ing.  They  said  'No!'  they  felt  good  and  wanted 
to  smoke  a  pipe  of  peace.  After  this  matters 
were  talked  over  and  an  agreement  of  peace 
was  made,  which  has  not  been  broken  since. 
My  husband  is  now  known  among  them  as 
their  'White  Father/  Their  chiefs  frequently 
come  to  visit  us.  Brigham  Young  instructed 
my  husband  to  buy  out  a  small  settlement  and 


THE   MORMONS.  405 

give  it  to  the  Indians.  Brigham  Young  said 
'it  was  cheaper  to  feed  them  than  to  fight 
them/  and  we  have  found  this  statement  to  be 
true.  The  town  given  to  the  Indians  is  called 
Indianola,  and  is  thirty-five  miles  from 
Ephraim. 

"In  1871  my  husband  was  called  to  go  on  a 
second  mission  to  Scandinavia.  He  made  his 
headquarters  at  Copenhagen.  He  visited 
nearly  all  the  principal  cities  of  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway,  holding  conferences  and 
meetings.  While  there  he  edited  a  semi 
monthly  periodical  called  STcandinaviens  8tjern-et 
Organ  for  de  Sidste  Dages  Hellige.  He  also  pub 
lished  many  tracts.  He  returned  to  Utah,  July 
28,  1873,  with  a  large  company  of  nearly  one 
thousand  Scandinavian  immigrants. 

"In  1877  he  was  called  to  preside  as  presi 
dent  over  Sanpete  county,  which  contains  seven 
teen  ecclesiastical  wards,  each  one  being  pre 
sided  over  by  one  bishop  with  two  counsellors 
and  other  officers.  The  population  of  this  county 
is  nearly  17,000.  In  1878  my  husband  was 
chosen  as  second  superintendent  for  the  erec 
tion  of  the  Manti  Temple,  which  is  located  six 
and  a  half  miles  from  our  door.  Eight  years 
were  spent  in  its  construction,  and  it  cost  more 
than  one  million  dollars.  It  is  a  beautiful 


406  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

stone  structure.  Being  built  on  the  spur  of  a 
mountain,  its  position  is  very  commanding  and 
imposing.  It  has  been  built  by  voluntary  con 
tributions.  My  husband  has  three  times  been 
a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  he  has  filled 
many  other  offices  of  trust. 

"I  send  you  a  copy  of  the  Salt  Lake  Tribune 
for  the  4th  inst  In  it  you  will  find  portraits 
and  biographies  of  all  the  members  of  the  re 
cent  Constitutional  Convention  in  Utah. 
Among  them  you  will  find  A.  S.  Anderson,  a 
grandson  of  the  slooper,  Endre  Dahl,  and  also 
A.  C.  Lund,  who  is  my  grandson. 

"I  taught  school  in  the  Fox  Kiver  settlement 
in  1845  and  1846.  Elling's  meeting  house  was 
built  before  that  time.  I  have  often  attended 
meeting  there  'and  remember  him  well.  My 
self  and  my  husband  were  acquainted  with 
your  parents.  They  lived  near  by  Endre  Dahl, 
and  at  one  time  near  my  mother's.  We  knew 
your  father  by  the  name  Bjorn  Kvelve.  Now, 
Mr.  Anderson,  I  have  written  this  to  help  you 
in  preparing  your  history.  It  is  a  great 
pleasure  to  me  if  I  can  be  of  any  service  to  you. 
Hoping  to  hear  from  you  again,  I  remain, 
"Yours  respectfully, 
"SARAH  A.  PETERSON." 


THE  MORMONS.  407 

While  reading  proof  on  the  above,  I  received 
the  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Peterson.  It 
supplies  a  few  additional  facts  concerning  our 
earliest  Norwegian  settlers,  and  will  be  read 
with  interest: 

"Ephraim,  April  17,  1895. 
"Rasmus  B.  Anderson, 

"Dear  Sir:  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me  for 
delaying  so  long.  You  wished  to  know  about 
my  teaching.  Do  you  remember  Middlepoint, 
where  my  mother  lived?  Your  folks  lived 
there,  down  by  the  old  spring  from  which  we 
all  drank.  Some  folks  used  to  come  half  a 
mile  to  get  water,  as  good  water  was  very 
scarce  in  the  summer  season.  In  '45--'46  I 
taught  one  mile  and  a  half  south,  and  in  '47  one 
mile  and  a  half  north  of  our  home;  I  never 
thought  of  that  coming  into  history.  It  did 
not  require  much  education  to  teach  those 
country  schools.  I  had  some  scholars  who 
were  from  twenty  to  forty  years  old.  They 
came  to  learn  the  English  language. 

"I  am  the  second  Norwegian  born  in  Amer 
ica.  My  cousin,  Susan  Nelson,  was  the  first; 
her  name  is  now  Danielson,  and  she  is  living 
in  Illinois.  Betsy  Haugaas  was  the  third  one, 
being  three  weeks  younger  than  myself.  If  I 
knew  of  anything  that  would  help  you  in  your 


408  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

history,  I  would  gladly  tell  you.  Mother  said 
that  after  they  found  that  cask  of  wine,  they 
would  make  mush  and  use  the  wine  for  water 
and  milk  to  eat  with  it.  My  oldest  daughter, 
Apostle  A.  H.  Lund's  wife,  was  the  first  Nor 
wegian  female  child  born  in  Lehi,  Utah  county. 

"My  husband  sends  his  kind  regards. 

"Yours  truly, 
"SARAH  A   PETERSON." 

This  took  us  far  beyond  the  year  1845,  but 
it  revealed  to  us  the  fate  of  the  descendants 
of  sloopers  and  of  early  pioneers  in  far-off 
Utah,  and  it  brought  to  light  a  phase  of  Scan 
dinavian  American  history  which,  I  dare  say, 
is  but  little  known  to  the  majority  of  my 
readers. 


XXXL 


Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt  and  Others. 

Hans  Valder  was  also  a  Baptist  preacher, 
and  his  field  was  mainly  in  La  Salle  county 
and  the  immediate  vicinity.  He  was  ordained 
by  a  council  of  five  or  six  ministers,  and 
preached  occasionally  for  four  or  five  years, 


OLE  OLSON  HETLETVEDT  AND  OTHERS.   409 

but  a  radical  change  took  place  in  his  mind  on 
the  subject  of  religion  and  he  quit  preaching 
about  1850,  that  is,  a  couple  of  years  before  he 
went  to  Minnesota,  and  has  not  preached  since. 
The  first  to  conduct  Lutheran  religious  serv 
ices  among  the  Norwegians  in  America  in 
this  century  was,  I  believe,  Ole  Olson  Hetle* 
tvedt.  He  dropped  the  name,  Hotletvedt,  and 
called  himself  simply  Ole  Olson.  He  was  a 
farmer's  son  from  the  northern  part  of  Sta- 
vanger  Amt  in  Norway,  lie  came,  as  we  have 
see  a,  in  the  sloop,  settled  in  Kendall  and  then 
went  to  Niagara  Falls,  where  he  worked  in  a 
paper  mill,  and  married  Miss  Chamberlain.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  he  conducted  religious 
services  in  the  Kendall  settlement,  but  I  have 
no  information  on  that  point.  But  in  the  Fox 
River  settlement  he  was  the  first  to  gather  the 
people  to  hear  the  word  of  God  according  to 
Haugian  custom.  He  is  described  as  a  mild- 
tempered,  earnest  Christian,  who  traveled  ex 
tensively  in  all  the  Norwegian  settlements,  and 
he  also  acted  as  agent  for  the  American  Bible 
society.  He  had  been  a  school  teacher  before 
he  left  Norway,  and  hence  he  was  tolerably 
well  educated.  As  Bible  agent  and  lay 
preacher  he  visited  the  Norwegian  settlements 
in  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Iowa.  His  nephew, 


410  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

Ole  Olson  TTetletvedt,  now  of  Norway,  Benton 
county,  Iowa,  writes  me  that  he  heard  his 
uncle  preach  in  Middlepoint  (Mission,  La  Salle 
county)  in  1845. 

Among  other  Lutheran  laymen  who  preached 
before  the  arrival  of  Clausen  or  Dietrichson, 
Rev.  O.  J.  Hatlestad,  in  his  book  published  in 
1887,  mentions  Endre  and  Herman  Osniundson 
Aaragerbo,  Kleng  Skaar,  Even  Heg,  Bjom 
Hatlestad,  Aslak  Aae,  Peder  Asbjornson  Me 
nus  and  John  Brakestad.  Of  course  there 
were  others,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  get 
at  the  details.  Enough  has  been  stated  to 
show  that  while  many  scoffed  at  religion, 
there  still  was  a  considerable  number  who  de 
sired  to  preserve  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  and 
did  the  best  they  could  to  maintain  religious 
services  more  or  less  regularly  and  more  or 
less  successfully. 


XXXII. 

Elling  Eielsen. 

After  this  brief  notice  of  the  meek  and  pious 
Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt,  of  the  bold  Jorgen  Peder- 
son,  of  the  eloquent  Ole  Heier,  of  the  sturdy 
Knud  Peterson,  and  the  picturesque  Gudmund 


ELLING  EIELSEN.  411 

Haugaas,  we  may  now  pass  to  the  considera 
tion  of  one  who  became  more  far-famed  than  all 
of  them  together,  and  that  is  Elling  Eielsen. 
Elling  Eielsen  Sunve  was  born  on  the  farm 
Sunve  in  Voss,  September  17,  1804.  As  a 
young  man  he  became  a  Haugian  in  Norway, 
and  began  to  work  as  a  lay  preacher.  He 
traveled  extensively  in  Norway,  Sweden  and 
Denmark  before  his  emigration  to  America, 
which  took  place  in  1839  in  the  same  ship  with 
Soren  Bache  and  Johannes  Johannesen.  On 
his  arrival  in  Chicago  in  the  autumn  of  1839, 
he  preached  his  first  sermon  in  America,  and 
then  proceeded  to  Fox  River.  He  seems  to 
have  had  his  headquarters  during  the  first 
years  of  his  activity  partly  in  the  Fox  River 
settlement  and  partly  in  Muskego,  Wis.  In 
Muskego  he  married,  as  heretofore  stated,  Miss 
Sigri  Nilson,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1843.  During 
his  long  life  he  visited  almost  every  Norwegian 
community  in  the  Northwest  and  also  made 
journeys  to  Missouri  and  Texas.  In  1842  we 
find  him  putting  up  a  meeting  house  in  Nor 
way,  La  Salle  county,  Illinois.  This  meeting 
house,  the  first  house  built  by  Norwegians  in 
America  in  this  century  for  divine  worship, 
was  erected  on  land  owned  by  Elling  Eielsen. 
It  was  one  story  and  an  attic.  The  ground 


412  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

floor  consisted  of  two  rooms,  occupied  as  a 
dwelling  by  Eielsen,  while  the  attic  was  a  sort 
of  hall  used  for  devotional  meetings.  The 
building  was  paid  for  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  by 
Ellin g  Eielsen  himself.  It  would  be  improper 
to  call  this  half  dwelling  and  half  meeting 
house  a  church. 

Thomas  Orstad,  of  Strand,  Iowa,  in  writing 
to  me  about  it  calls  it  a  Forsamlingshus,  that  is, 
a  house  for  meetings.  He  says  it  was  built  of 
wrhite  oak  logs,  constructed  in  Norwegian 
fashion.  It  was  24  feet  long,  16  feet  wide  and 
12  feet  high.  The  lower  story  was  fitted  up 
for  family  use,  and  the  upper  story  for  church 
services.  The  shingles  used  for  roofing  this 
building  were  split  out  of  blocks  of  native 
wood.  The  seats  in  the  assembly  hall  consisted 
of  planks  made  from  the  same  kind  of  wood 
and  resting  on  blocks  of  the  same  material. 
Mr.  Orstad  adds  that  there  were  also  a  few 
small  windows.  "For  many  years,"  says  Mr. 
Orstad,  "this  was  a  place  where  those  gathered 
who  had  any  desire  to  hear  the  word  of  God." 
In  course  of  time  the  congregation  built  a 
frame  church,  and  what  became  of  Elling  Eiel- 
sen's  meeting  house  I  do  not  know.  In  the 
autumn  of  1894  I  visited  the  spot  where  this 
famous  little  edifice  had  stood  on  a  little  hill 


ELLING  EIELSEN.  413 

near  the  present  Norway,  111.  Old  residents 
pointed  out  the  site  to  me,  but  there  was  no 
trace  of  it  visible.  When  I  asked  the  citizens 
what  became  of  the  old  meeting  house,  they 
shook  their  heads  and  said  they  did  not  know. 
Eielsen  was  an  energetic  traveler  and  a  zealous 
preacher.  His  education  was  sadly  defective, 
and  he  had  no  talent  for  organizing.  He  was 
in  his  element  when  he  could  tramp  from  place 
to  place  and  gather  the  people  to  his  gospel 
meetings.  In  order  to  be  permitted  to  admin 
ister  the  holy  sacraments  he  was  requested  by 
his  friends  to  secure  holy  orders,  and  he  was 
accordingly  ordained  by  Rev.  F.  A.  Hoffman, 
D.  D.,  the  pastor  of  a  German  Lutheran  con 
gregation  at  Duncan's  Grove,  twenty  miles 
north  of  Chicago,  October  3,  1843.  Much  has 
been  written  about  the  genuineness  of  Eiel- 
sen's  ordination,  but  this  is  a  subject  which  I 
do  not  care  to  discuss  here. 

After  a  long  life  of  hard  work  Elling  Eielsen 
died  in  Chicago,  111.,  January  10,  1883,  at  11:40 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  he  was  buried  in 
the  Graceland  cemetery.  I  saw  Elling  Eielsen 
a  few  times,  and  once  attended  one  of  his  re 
ligious  meetings,  but  I  failed  to  discover  the 
secret  of  his  great  influence  as  a  religious 


414  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

worker.  I  remember  he  used  the  expression 
several  times  that  he  was  only  puttering  in  a 
small  way  ("eg  bare  putla  saa  smaat"). 


XXXIII. 
John  G.  Smith,  Ole  Consulen,  G.  Unonius. 

In  1841  a  Swede  came  to  Koshkonong  and 
pretended  to  be  both  minister  and  physician. 
His  name  was  John  Smith.  Hatlestad  says 
that  "he  claimed  to  be  a  Lutheran  clergyman 
and  to  have  been  the  king's  chaplain  in  Stock 
holm;  that  he  had  an  attractive  personality 
and  a  smooth  tongue,  and  thereby  secured 
much  confidence  among  the  simple-hearted 
and  shepherdless  Norwegians,  but  that  he 
after  a  time  became  known  in  his  true  char 
acter."  When  he  could  no  longer  deceive  peo 
ple  as  a  preacher,  he  pretended  for  a  time  to 
be  a  doctor,  but  he  did  not  succeed  in  this 
either  very  long.  He  afterwards  tried  to 
preach  in  Chicago,  but  here,  too,  he  was  soon 
found  out,  and  his  occupation  came  to  an  end. 
Rev.  J.  W.  C.  Dietrichson  calls  this  man  "the 
"Swede  John  G.  Smith,"  and  says  he  was  "a 
Baptist,"  and  I  suppose  the  truth  of  the  mat- 


J.    G.   SMITH,  OL.E  CONSULEN,  <*.  UNONIUS.      415 

ter  is  that  he  first  pretended  to  be  a  Lutheran 
and  then  joined  the  Baptist  church.  He  was 
married  to  a  sister  of  Gunnul  Olson  Vindeg, 
but  his  wife  died  before  John  G.  Smith  left 
Koshkonong. 

Johan  Reinert  Reierson  says  of  John  Smith: 

"A  Swede  who  calls  himself  Smith,  and  pre 
tends  to  be  a  minister,  has  settled  here  and 
has  preached  sermons  for  the  new  settlers, 
but  his  conduct  is  not  such  as  to  inspire  re 
spect." 

Some  of  my  readers  will  remember  Ole  "Con- 
sulen."  His  name  was  Ole  Hanson,  but  he 
was  generally  called  "Consulen,"  because  he 
pretended  to  be  a  lawyer  (counsellor),  and  I 
believe  he  actually  appeared  in  court  a  few 
times  as  an  attorney.  He  was,  however, 
chiefly  known  as  an  itinerant  Methodist  lay 
preacher.  He  seems  to  have  made  his  head 
quarters  on  Rock  Prairie  and  at  Highland,  Wis. 
He  married  a  widow  from  Primrose,  Dane 
county,  and  died,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  many 
years  ago  at  Highland,  Wis. 

In  an  earlier  portion  of  this  work  I  have 
made  a  brief  statement  of  a  settlement  at  Pine 
Lake,  founded  in  1841  by  some  Swedes,  among 
whom  was  a  young  student  by  name  G.  Uno- 
nius.  Mr.  Unonius  entered  the  Episcopal 


416  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

church  as  a  minister,  and  organized  a  congre 
gation  at  Pine  Lake.  As  shown  heretofore, 
Hans  Gasman  and  his  friends  from  Skien  set 
tled  here  in  1843,  and  the  Norwegians  united 
with  the  Swedes  and  became  members  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  choosing  G.  Unonius  as  their 
pastor.  In  this  settlement  there  was  a  wealthy 
Dane  by  name  Fribert  and  a  Swedish  man  of 
means  by  name  Saint-Syr.  A  son  of  the  latter 
is  now  a  physician  and  druggist  in  Sheboygan. 
In  1843  this  Pine  Lake  congregation  had  re 
solved  to  build  a  church  on  the  west  shore  of 
the  lake. 


XXXIV. 
C.  L.  Clausen. 

I  have  now  described  briefly  but  still  as 
comprehensively  as  I  am  able  the  religious 
work  done  among  the  Norwegians  in  America 
down  to  October  3,  1843,  the  date  when  Elling 
Eielsen  was  ordained  by  the  Eev.  Francis  Allen 
Hoffman.  I  have  shown  how  all  the  religious 
work  down  to  that  time  was  done  by  laymen, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Swede,  G. 
Unonius.  Neither  was  he  a  theologian,  from 


C.   L.    CLAUSEN.  417 

Sweden.  At  the  Upsala  university  he  had 
studied  cameralistics  or  the  science  of  state 
finance,  and  he  took  his  course  in  theology  at 
an  Episcopal  seminary  in  America.  I  have 
shown  what  a  chaotic  conflict  there  wras  on  the 
part  of  both  the  people  and  their  lay  preachers, 
between  regular  Lutherans,  Haugians,  Bap 
tists,  Mormons,  Methodists  and  the  scoffers, 
and  such  a  chaotic  conflict  wras  well  calculated 
to  produce  scoffers.  I  have  shown  how  a  little 
meeting  house  was  built  by  Elling  and  some 
of  his  friends  at  Norway,  111.;  how  Elling  him 
self  was  ordained,  and  how  Mr.  Gasman  and 
other  Norwegians  had  joined  the  Episcopal 
church  at  Pine  Lake,  Wis.  And  here  I  might 
end,  as  the  year  1840  was  the  limit  I  first  set  for 
this  volume,  but  I  cannot  resist  the  tempta 
tion  of  showing  how  a  better  day  was  dawning 
for  the  Norwegian  Lutherans  in  America,  and 
I  shall,  therefore,  trespass  on  the  patience  of 
my  readers,  and  carry  my  skeleton  church  his 
tory  down  to  the  summer  of  1845. 

Glaus  Lauritz  Clausen  was  a  Dane.  He  was 
born  November  3,  1820,  on  the  island  of  ^Ero, 
Fyen  Stift,  in  Denmark,  and  he  died  in  Paulsbo, 
Washington,  in  1892. 

In  1841  he  came  to  Norway  to  seek  work  in 
27 


418  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

the  missionary  field  in  South  Africa,  but  he 
found  that  there  did  not  seem  to  be  an  opening 
for  him  in  that  direction.  Tollef  O.  Bache,  the 
merchant  in  Drammen,  whose  son  Soren,  with 
Johannes  Johannesen,  had  settled  in  Mus- 
kego,  was  anxious  to  send  a  teacher  to  Amer 
ica  in  order  that  his  own  grandchildren  and 
other  children  growing  up  there  might  be 
properly  instructed  in  the  religion  and  lan 
guage  of  their  fathers.  Tollef  Bache's  atten< 
tion  had  been  called  to  this  young  man,  Clau 
sen.  A  proposition  was  made  and  Clausen  ac 
cepted.  He  first  went  to  Denmark,  and  mar 
ried  Martha  F.  Kasniuson,  and  then  proceeded 
to  his  new  field  of  work  in  Muskego,  where  he 
arrived  with  his  young  wife  in  August,  1843. 
After  arriving  in  Muskego  it  seemed  to  him 
and  to  the  people  of  Muskego  that  his  services 
were  more  needed  as  a  preacher  than  as  a 
teacher,  and  accordingly  he  was  called  as 
preacher,  duly  examined  by  a  German  Lutheran 
minister  by  name  L.  F.  E.  Krause,  and  or 
dained  by  him  on  the  18th  of  October,  1843, 
just  fifteen  days  after  Elling  Eielsen  had  been 
ordained.  Clausen  at  once  began  to  preach 
in  Even  Heg's  barn,  in  the  houses  of  the  set 
tlers  and  in  school  houses.  On  the  second 
Sunday  after  Easter,  1844,  he  confirmed  the 


C.  L.  CLAUSEN.  419 

first  class  of  children  in  Even  Heg's  barn. 
This  was  the  first  Norwegian  Lutheran  con 
firmation  in  America.  In  the  fall  of  1843  the 
congregation  (sit  venia  verbo)  decided  to  build 
a  church.  Heg  gave  the  ground  on  the  so- 
called  Indian  Mound,  and  here  the  church  was 
built.  Tollef  Bache  in  Drammen  contributed 
$400  to  the  church,  and  the  building  of  it  was 
begun  early  in  1844. 

For  a  picture  of  this  church  edifice  I  am  in 
debted  to  Mr.  H.  J.  Ellertsen,  of  Wind  Lake, 
Wis.  In  a  letter  to  me,  accompanying  the 
picture,  he  says,  "Enclosed  I  send  you  a  draw 
ing  of  the  old  Muskego  church  as  it  looked 
when  it  was  built.  It  was  built  of  oak  logs 
hewed  on  both  sides,  six  inches  thick,  and 
matched  after  the  Norwegian  fashion  of  build 
ing  houses.  On  the  inside  the  logs  were 
dressed  perfectly  smooth  and  then  fitted  so 
close  together  that  no  mortar  was  used  between 
them.  Double  doors  in  the  front  were  made 
of  black  walnut.  The  pulpit  was  also  made 
of  walnut  and  was  about  seven  feet  from  the 
floor.  Galleries  were  built  across  the  front 
and  along  both  sides  to  about  the  middle  of 
the  church.  These  galleries  were  supported 
by  six  heavy  columns  turned  out  of  solid  wal 
nut.  In  fact  the  church  was  pretty  well  fur- 


420  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

nished  inside.  The  erection  of  tlie  church  was 
commenced  in  the  spring  of  1844,  and  the  dedi 
cation  took  place  March  13,  1845.  It  is  un 
doubtedly  the  first  Norwegian  church  built  in 
America." 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Clausen  also  visited 
other  settlements,  and  he  had  been  on  Kosh- 
konong  and  preached  and  administered  the 
sacraments  a  couple  of  times  before  Dietrich- 
son  arrived  there  in  September,  1844,  the  first 
time  in  the  last  week  of  May,  1844,  when  he 
preached  near  the  present  Utica.  Eev.  C.  L. 
Clausen  was  for  many  years  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  mine,  and  I  learned  to  admire  his  per 
sonal  magnetism,  his  keen  intelligence,  his  vast 
amount  of  knowledge  and  his  large  heart. 


XXXV. 

The  First  Controversy  Among  the  Norwegian 
Lutherans  in  America. 

Before  going  any  further  I  take  the  liberty 
of  presenting  here  an  account  of  what  was 
undoubtedly  the  first  controversy,  and  caused 
the  first  split  among  the  Norwegian  Lutherans 
in  America.  I  have  the  facts  from  Hon.  Gun- 


THE  FIRST  CONTROVERSY  IN  AMERICA.      421 

nuf  Tollefson,  of  Mount  Horeb,  Wis.,  a  Hau- 
gian,  who  came  from  Bygland  in  Ssetersdal, 
Norway,  in  1843.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
he  and  his  parents  and  brother  and  sisters  were 
the  first  to  emigrate  from  that  part  of  Nor 
way.  He  came  directly  to  Muskego  and  there 
he  and  Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen  worked  together,  fell 
ing  trees  for  the  Muskego  church.  He  chopped 
on  one  side  of  the  tree  and  Clausen  on  the  other. 
This  illustrates  the  kind  of  stuff  our  early 
preachers  were  made  of. 

In  the  beginning  Clausen  and  Eielsen  held 
services  together  in  Even  Heg's  barn,  but  it 
was  not  long  before  they  got  into  trouble.  Al 
ready  in  the  fall  "of  1843  Eev.  Clausen  and 
some  others  prepared  a  document  of  charges 
against  Elling,  a  document  which  was  read 
publicly  at  a  meeting  in  the  barn. 

The  foundation  of  the  complaint  was  as  fol 
lows:  A  Stavanger  family  had  died  on  Jeffer 
son  Prairie,  in  1843,  and  had  left  a  little  five 
year  old  daughter.  Before  their  death,  they 
had  requested  Elling  to  take  care  of  their  child. 
Then  there  was  in  Yorkville,  Kacine  county, 
an  Irish  Catholic  family,  who  wanted  to  adopt 
the  girl,  and  Elling  left  the  child  with  them. 
Then  Elling's  friends  said  to  him,  "For  God's 
sake,  Elling,  what  have  you  done?  How  could 


422  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

yon  give  this  little  girl  to  Catholics?"    Elling 
at  once  regretted  what  he  had  done,  and  went 
to  the  Irish  family  and  asked  to  get  the  girl 
back.     Her  adopted  parents  had  dressed  the 
child  nicely.       They  had  no  children  of  their 
own,  and  refused  to  give  up  the  child  they  had 
secured  from  Elling.     Then  Elling  asked  the 
little  girl  to  meet  him  outside  of  the  house 
after  dark,  when  he  appeared  with  horse  and 
buggy  and  carried  her  away  surreptitiously. 
He  took  her  back  to  Jefferson  Prairie.       Mr. 
Clausen  got  hold  of  this  matter  and  formu 
lated  the  facts  into  a  complaint  against  Elling, 
for  stealing  the  child  from  the  Catholic  family. 
The  result  was  a  split  in  the  church.     Elling 
left  and  a  few  went  with  him,  among  whom 
were  Gunnuf  Tollefson's  parents.     From  that 
time  on,  Elling  held  meetings  separately,  and 
he  never  afterwards  became  united  with  Clau 
sen    or    his    friends.      Gunnuf    Tollefson    was 
present  when  this  arraignment  of  Elling's  con 
duct  was  read  by  Kev.  Clausen  after  a  regular 
service  in  the  Heg  barn.      I  have  no  com 
ments  to  make. 


J.   W.   C.  DIETRICHSON.  423 


XXXVL 

J.  W.  C.  Dietrichson. 

Then  came  Rev.  J.  W.  C.  Dietrichison,  from 
Norway.  He  was  the  first  Norwegian  Lu 
theran  minister  in  this  country  who  had  been 
regularly  educated  at  the  university  of  Nor 
way,  and  regularly  ordained  by  a  Norwegian 
bishop. 

Johannes  Wilhelm  Christian  Dietrichson 
was  born  at  Fredrikstad,  Norway,  April  4, 
1815,  and  died  at  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  from 
a  stroke  of  paralysis,  November^l-i,  1883.  He 
was  buried  at  Porsgrund,  November  28,  1883. 

A  dyer  by  name  P.  Sorenson  in  Christiania, 
Norway,  induced  Mr.  Dietrichson  to  go  as  a 
minister  to  his  countrymen  in  America.  Mr. 
Sorenson  encouraged  him  not  only  with  words, 
but  also  with  a  sum  of  money  for  the  mission. 
After  some  hesitation,  Dietrichson  finally  con 
sented,  and  with  a  view  of  going  to  America, 
he  was  ordained  in  the  Oslo  church  by  the 
bishop  of  Christiania  Stift,  February  26,  1844. 


424  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1844,  he  went  on  board 
the  brig  "Washington,"  in  Langesund,  Captain 
H.  Smith  commanding.  This  ship  was  loaded 
with  iron  and  emigrants,  and  bound  for  New 
York,  and  on  May  21st,  the  wind  permitted  the 
captain  to  weigh  anchor.  There  were  in  all, 
112  persons  on  board,  including  the  sailors. 
Mr.  Dietrichson  acted  as  chaplain  during  the 
Yovage.  He  also  taught  the  children,  so  that 
on  this  occasion,  the  emigrants  had  both 
church  and  school.  They  landed  in  New  York, 
July  9. 

In  New  York,  Dietrichson  preached  twice 
for  Norwegians,  Swedes  and  Danes,  the  6th 
Sunday  after  Trinity,  and  the  following  Sun 
day. 

He  landed  in  Milwaukee,  August  5,  1844. 
From  Milwaukee  he  went  on  to  Muskego, 
where  he  stopped  a  short  time  with  Kev.  C.  L. 
Clausen,  whose  ordination  he  recognized  as 
regular,  in  every  respect. 

On  one  of  the  last  days  of  August,  1844, 
Dietrichson  arrived  on  Koshkonong,  and  there 
he  at  once  began  to  preach  and  organize  the 
people  into  congregations. 

From  the  records  kept  by  him  of  those  im 
portant  events  in  the  Norwegian  American 


J.  W.  C.  DIETRICHSON.  425 

Lutheran  church  history,  I  make  the  follow 
ing  extract,  translated  from  the  first  page  of 
the  Protocol  or  Kegister: 

"Friday,  the  30th  of  August,  1844,  I,  Johan 
nes  Wilhelm  Christian  Dietrichson,  from  ray 
fatherland,  Norway,  regularly  ordained  minis 
ter  in  the  Lutheran  church,  held  service  for  the 
Norwegian  settlers  living  on  Koshkonong 
Prairie.  In  this  first  service  which  I  held  liere, 
said  day's  afternoon,  I  preached  in  a  barn  at 
Amund  Anderson's,*  on  the  words  in  Kev.  3,  11, 
'Behold  I  come  quickly;  hold  that  fast  which 
thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown!'  I 
sought  according  to  the  grace  God  gave  me  to 
impress  solemnly,  upon  my  countrymen's 
hearts,  the  importance  of  holding  fast  to  the 
true  saving  faith  and  to  the  edifying  ritual 
of  the  church  of  our  fathers  here  in  this 
land  divided  by  so  many  erroneous  sects.  On 
Sunday,  September  1,  the  13th  Sunday  after 
Trinity,  I  held  a  service  in  the  forenoon,  and 
also  administered  the  Lord's  supper,  in  the 
same  place,  in  the  presence  of  a  numerous  gath 
ering.  This  was  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  set 
tlement. 

"On  Monday,  September  2, 1  held  service  and 

*  In  the  northeast  part  of  the  town  of  Albion.— R.  B.  A. 


426  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

communion  in  the  western  part  of  the  settle 
ment  in  the  open  air,  under  an  oak  tree  on 
Knud  Aslakson  Juve's  land." 

Mr.  Dietrichson  at  once  proceeded  to  organ 
ize  the  people  into  congregations.  The  so- 
called  East  church,  in  the  town  of  Christiana, 
was  organized  October  10,  1844,  and  the  West 
church,  in  the  town  of  Pleasant  Springs,  on 
October  13,  1844.  "The  erection  of  two  houses 
of  worship,"  to  quote  the  language  of  my 
friend,  Eev.  Adolph  Bredesen,  of  Stoughtpn, 
Wisconsin,  "was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1844,  and 
pushed  to  completion.  TLe  Western  church 
was  completed  first,  and  was  dedicated  Decem 
ber  19,  1844,  by  Pastor  Dietrichson,  assisted 
by  his  friend,  Pastor  Clausen,  of  Muskego.  The 
Eastern  church  *  *  *  was  dedicated  Jan 
uary  31,  1845.  *  *  *  These  were  the  first 
two  Norwegian  Lutheran  church  edifices  on 
American  soil.  The  third  was  the  Muskego 
church,  dedicated  March  13,  1845.  The  Kosh- 
konong  churches  were  both  luilt  of  logs  and 
were  of  the  same  dimensions,  36  feet  long  and 
28  feet  wide.  In  both,  movable  benches  served 
as  seats,  a  plain  table,  adorned  with  a  white 
cloth  and  a  black  wooden  cross  was  the  altar, 
a  rude  desk  was  the  pulpit,  and  the  baptismal 
font  was  hewn  out  of  an  oak  log.  After  dedi- 


J.  W.  G.  DIETBIGHSON.  427 

eating  their  churches,    the   two    Koshkonong 
parishes  sent  a  written  call  to  Dietrichson,  to 

become  their  settled  pastor." 

As  has  already  been  shown,  the  Muskego 
church  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1844.  It 
was  used  by  Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen  in  the  autumn 
of  1844,  but  was  not  dedicated  before  March, 
1845.  It  would  be  stating  the  matter  ac 
curately,  to  say  that  the  first  church  begun 
and  built  by  the  Norwegian  immigrants  in  this 
century  was  the  Muskego  church;  but  that  the 
two  churches  on  Koshkonong,  were  the  first  to 
be  dedicated.  In  this  statement,  I  do  not  take 
into  account  the  meeting  house  built  by  Elling 
Eielsen,  in  the  Fox  River  settlement  in  1842. 

Ole  Knudson  Trovatten  became  the  first 
school  teacher  on  Koshkonong,  at  a  salary  of 
$10  per  month. 

Dietrichson  remained  in  America  until  the 
next  summer,  and  on  the  7th  of  June,  1845,  he 
sailed  from  New  York  in  the  Swedish  ship 
"Thore  Petr<§,"  commanded  by  Capt.  Ander 
son  from  Gefle,  and  bound  for  Stettin.  After 
twenty-eight  days  he  reached  Elsinore,  and 
from  there  he  took  a  steamer  to  Norway.  The 
next  year,  1846,  he  published  in  Stavanger  a 
little  volume  containing  an  interesting  account 


428  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

of  his  travels  and  labors  among  the  Norwe 
gians  in  America. 

During  his  absence,  the  Koshkonong  con 
gregations  were  served  by  Eev.  C.  L.  Clausen. 

On  July  11,  1846,  he  sailed  from  Norway  to 
America  again,  and  served  his  congregations 
until  1850,  when  he  returned  to  Norway  for 
good,  and  was  succeeded  the  same  year  on 
Koshkonong  by  Rev.  Adolph  C.  Preus. 

Before  returning  to  Norway  in  June,  1845, 
Dietrichson  had  visited  a  considerable  number 
of  the  Norwegian  settlements,  and  his  book 
contains  many  important  facts  in  regard  to 
them.  He  visited  our  dear  Fox  Eiver  settle 
ment  in  the  spring  of  1845,  and  says  there 
were  at  that  time  about  500  Norwegians  in  the 
colony.  Some  of  them,  he  says,  were  Presby 
terians,  some  Methodists,  some  Baptists,  some 
Ellingians,  some  Quakers  and  some  Mor 
mons.  Elling  had  but  few  adherents,  but 
about  150  were  Mormons.  Ole  Heier  (Omdal) 
"was  bishop  and  could  heal  the  sick,"  Gud- 
mund  Haugaas  was  "high  priest  after  the  or 
der  of  Melchezedek  in  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints."  He  was  also 
"counsel  of  the  highest  Mormon  bishop/' 
Dietrichson  preached  in  the  Fox  River  settle- 


LIST  OP  LEADERS.  429 

ment  the  4th  Sunday  after  Easter,  1845.  Gud- 
mund  Haugaas  was  present,  and  at  the  close  of 
Dietrichson's  sermon  he  said:  "I  desire  to  say  a 
few  words  concerning  the  things  the  minister 
has  uttered,  if  the  audience  will  stop  a  mo 
ment;  at  least  I  suppose  the  minister  will 
stop."  Dietrichson  did  not  stop.  He  had 
visited  Gudmund  Haugaas  at  his  house  the 
day  before  and  had  had  a  talk  with  him. 
There  he  saw,  hanging  over  his  sofa,  a  fac-sim- 
ile  of  the  golden  tablets.  The  writing,  he  says, 
was  a  strange  mixture  of  Greek,  Hebrew, 
Syriac  and  other  letters  and  of  strange  figures 
like  Chinese  writing,  so  that  it  was  impossible 
to  make  out  a  single  word. 


XXXVIL 
List  of  Leaders. 


As  I  am  now  rapidly  approaching  the  end 
of  my  story,  I  will  once  more  call  attention 
to  the  names  of  the  chief  leaders  and  pro- 
motors  of  Norwegian  emigration,  of  the 
founders  of.  settlements,  and  of  the  first 
preachers.  Their  lives  have  been  discussed 


430  NOKWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

more  or  less  fully  and  I  will  here  simply  pre 
sent  tlieir  names  collectively.    They  are: 

Kleng  Peerson. 

Knud  Olson  Eide. 

Lars  Larson  (i  Jeilane). 

Gjert  Gregoriuson  Hovland. 

Knud  Anderson  Slogvig. 

Bjorn  Anderson  Kvelve. 

Halstein  Torrison. 

Nils  Eothe. 

Ole  Eynning. 

Ole  Nattestad. 

Ansten  Nattestad. 

Hans  Barlien. 

Ole  H.  Aasland. 

Johan  Nordboe. 

Gullik  O.  Gravdahl. 

Captain  Hans  Friis. 

Gudmund  Sandsberg. 

Ingebret  Larson  Narvig. 

Hans  Gasman. 

Knud  Langland. 

John  Luraas. 

Soren  Bache. 

Johannes  Johanneseiu 

Gunnul  O.  Vindeg. 

Odd  J.  Himle. 

Nels  S.  Gilderhus. 


LIST  OP  LEADERS.  431 

Nels  Bolstad. 

Amund  Anderson  Hornefjeld. 

Thorstein  Olson  Bjaadland. 

Lars  Dugstad. 

Johan  Reinert  Reierson. 

Elise  Warenskjold. 

Ole  Canuteson. 
The  pioneer  preachers  are: 

Ole  Olson  Hetletvedt. 

Bjorn  Hatlestad. 

Jorgen  Pederson. 

Ole  Heier 

Gudmund  Haugaas. 

Knud  Pederson. 

Hans  Valder. 

Elling  Eielsen. 

C.  L.  Clausen. 

J.  W.  C.  Dietrichson. 

Even  Heg. 

Endre  Osmundson  AarageW. 

Herman  Osmundson  Aaragebfl. 

Kleng  Skaar. 

Aslak  Aae. 

Peder  Asbjornson  Mehus. 

John  Brakestad. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  Norwegian  im 
migration  in  the  United  States,  in  the  19th 


432  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

century.    From  1821  to  1840,  is  the  first  chap 
ter  of  the  history  of  the  Norwegians  in  this 
country.       I  have  described  the  immigration 
proper,  down  to  the  end  of  the  year  1839,  and 
the  formation  of  the  first  six  settlements,  the 
last   of   which   (Koshkonong)   was   started   in 
1840,  while  I  have  given  some  account  of  the 
first  three    settlements    in  Texas  (1850),    and 
sketched    the    beginnings    of    religious    work 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  year  1845. 


XXXVIIL 
Pioneer  Life. 

How  our  fathers  toiled  and  how  much  they 
suffered,  we,  their  descendants,  who  are  now 
enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  can  never 
realize  or  know;  and  we  owe  them  a  debt  of 
gratitude  which  we  can  never  pay.  The  best 
we  can  do,  is  to  live  worthy  lives,  and  try  to 
keep  green  the  memories  of  those  who  did  so 
little  for  themselves  and  so  much  for  us. 

An  interesting  volume  might  be  written,  de 
scribing  the  life  in  those  early  Norwegian  set 
tlements.  Our  libraries  abound  in  biographies 
of  great  men,  kings  and  potentates;  but  good 


PIONEER  LIFE.  433 

books  on  the  life  of  the  common  people  are 
scarce;  and  yet  it  is  far  more  important  and 
interesting  to  know  all  the  little  circumstances 
that  sway  and  control  a  people,  than  it  is  to 
study  the  life  of  a  prince  who  has  but  few  feel 
ings  in  common  with  the  masses,  and  who  is 
socially  far  removed  from  them.  In  perusing 
the  foregoing  pages,  have  my  readers  thought 
of  all  the  toils,  privations,  hopes,  fears,  antici 
pations  and  misgivings  of  our  dear  settlers  in 
Kendall,  in  Illinois,  and  in  Wisconsin?  Have 
you  realized  what  the  parting  with  dear 
friends  in  Norway  meant?  Did  you  travel 
with  them,  in  your  imagination,  the  long 
weary  way  across  the  Atlantic?  Did  you  ac 
company  them  in  your  sympathies  on  the  canal 
boats  and  through  the  unfrequented  forests 
on  the  frontier?  Have  you  thought  of  the  im 
migrant's  exposures,  and  of  his  patient  indus 
try?  All  these  things  must  be  considered  by  the 
reader  who  would  fully  realize  what  hardships 
had  to  be  endured  by  those  who  braved  the 
dangers  and  privations  of  a  new  country,  made 
homes  and  fields  and  gardens,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  advancing  civilization.  To  (draw  a 
picture  of  the  life  of  the  pioneer  Norwegian 
settler  would  require  the  hand  of  a  master, 
28 


434  NORWEGIAN   IMMIGRATION. 

nor  do  I  think  the  tale  could  be  property  un 
folded  by  any  one  who  has  not  had  personal 
experience. 

Go,  in  fancy,  with  the  new  comer  to  Koshko- 
nong  in  1840;  watch  him  select  the  site  for  his 
future  home;  trudge  with  him  the  long  way  to 
Milwaukee,  where  he  enters  the  land  at  the 
government  land  office,  his  little  family,  in  the 
meantime,  living  in  or  under  his  covered 
wagon.  Foot  it  back  seventy  miles  and  note 
the  happiness  of  the  wife  and  children  when 
they  see  him  return.  Watch  our  pioneer  set 
tler  while  he  builds  the  first  shelter  for  his 
family,  that  little  log  cabin  or  dugout  with 
one  room,  twelve  by  fourteen  or  less,  and  an 
attic.  Notice  with  what  hospitality  he  shares 
these  scanty  accommodations  with  two  or  three 
other  families  who  come  the  next  year  to  be 
come  his  neighbors.  Think  of  the  resignation 
with  which  they  dispensed  with  such  things 
as  could  not  be  had  or  which  they  were  not 
rich  enough  to  buy.  And  yet  some  of  the  old 
settlers  will  tell  you  that  they  were  quite  com 
fortable  in  those  rough  dwellings,  and  that 
they  had  much  real  enjoyment.  From  similar 
homes  came  many  of  the  greatest  men  that 
America  has  produced. 

Then  comes  the  turning  of  the  sod  to  make 


PIONEER  LIFE.  435 

fields.  On  the  prairie,  this  was  easy  enough; 
but  in  the  timber,  what  a  lot  of  trees  had  to  be 
removed!  Did  you  ever  see  one  of  those  huge 
breaking-plows?  On  its  beam,  which  was 
from  eight  to  twelve  feet  long,  there  was  framed 
an  axle,  on  each  end  of  which  was  a  wheel, 
sawed  from  an  oak  log.  This  wheel  held  the 
plow  upright.  It  was  a  sight  worth  seeing, 
when  a  ten  or  twelve  year  old  boy  drove  an 
ox  team  of  six  to  ten  yoke,  and  the  heavy, 
queer-looking  plow,  with  its  coulter  and  broad 
share  was  turning  the  virgin  soil  in  black  fur 
rows  two  to  three  feet  wide.  And  there  is  lots 
of  work  to  be  done.  The  husband  and  wife 
and  children  are  all  busy  from  early  in  the 
morning  until  late  at  night,  building  fences 
around  the  farm,  hunting  the  oxen  and  cows 
on  the  boundless  prairies  and  meadows, 
through  the  heavy  dews,  early  in  the  morning 
and  late  in  the  evening.  Prairie-fires  sweep 
over  the  country  yearly,  and  have  to  be  fought 
by  the  whole  neighborhood  of  settlers;  and 
what  little  they  have  to  sell  is  taken  in  "Kub- 
berulles,"  a  kind  of  wagon  made  with  wheels 
sawed  from  oak  logs,  to  Milwaukee,  or  to  Chi 
cago,  the  nearest  markets. 

The  timber  has  been  cleared,  and  the  prairie 
sod  has  been  turned,  and  the  decaying  vege- 


NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

tation  produces  malaria.  The  season  of  fever 
and  ague  has  come.  We  visit  a  little  log  cabin, 
and  find  all  its  occupants  sick.  In  this  home 
and  in  these  surroundings,  which  required  all 
the  patience  and  resignation  that  could  be 
mustered  in  health,  sickness  wears  a  darker 
garb,  and  the  new  settlement  always  gets  a 
double  amount  of  sickness.  The  few  distant 
neighbors  are  afflicted  in  a  similar  manner 
and  can  render  no  assistance.  The  poor  in 
valids  need  stout  hearts  and  steady  nerves  not 
to  quail  under  their  affliction,  and  repent  the 
day  when  they  resolved  to  emigrate;  but  the 
bridges  are  burnt  behind  them  and  there  is 
nothing  for  them  to  do  but  make  the  best  of 
it.  How  gloomy  the  world  looks  through 
those  bilious  eyes  with  throbbing  temples  and 
aching  limbs!  Death  would  be  a  relief  to  that 
homesick  heart.  There  were  seasons  in  the 
Fox  Kiver  settlement  and  on  Koshkonong, 
when  nearly  all  the  inhabitants  were  pros 
trated  by  fever  and  ague.  A  couple  of  fortun 
ate  individuals,  whose  constitutions  were  proof 
against  sickness,  would  then  go  from  liouse  to 
house,  give  the  patients  some  medicine,  go  to 
the  spring  for  a  pail  of  water,  carry  a  pail  of 
gruel  with  them,  and  leave  a  little  for  each 
patient  and  then  return  to  watch  over  their 


PIONEER  LIFE.  437 

dear  ones  at  home.  Note  the  happiness  in  the 
faces  and  the  tenderness  in  every  word  as  these 
messengers  come  on  their  daily  errands  of 
mercy.  Surely  those  good  deeds  done  in  ob 
scurity  are  written  in  the  great  book. 

We  need  not  wonder  at  the  friendships  that 
grew  up  among  those  early  settlers.  They 
were  thousands  of  miles  away  from  their  kin 
dred  and  as  they  lay  with  fevered  brows  listen 
ing  to  the  howling  of  the  wolves  and  thought 
of  their  neglected  cattle,  wasting  crops  and 
hapless  lot,  you  can  imagine  what  it  meant  to 
have  a  neighbor  come  in  with  sympathy  for 
their  sufferings  and  with  water  for  their 
parched  tongues.  When  the  neighbor  told  his 
deeper  tale  of  woe,  and  how  he  had  surmounted 
it  all,  the  countenances  of  our  immigrants 
would  brighten  and  they  would  forget  their 
pains  for  a  time.  They  learned  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  human  sympathy  and  kindness, 
and  they  rallied  from  their  sufferings  with 
their  natures  purified  and  strengthened  for  the 
battle  of  life. 

In  his  carefully  prepared  address  delivered 
at  the  dedication  of  the  Pioneer  monument  at 
East  Koshkonong,  Wis.,  October  10,  1894,  my 
friend,  Eev.  Adolph  Bredesen,  uttered  the  fol- 


438  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

lowing  eloquent  and  truthful  words  about  the 
old  Norwegian  pioneers: 

"In  1890,  according  to  the  last  national  cen 
sus,  more  than  322,000  natives  of  the  kingdom 
of   Norway   were  then   living   in   the   United 
States.    Today  the  Americans  of  Norwegian 
birth  or  parentage  number  probably  not  far 
from  650,000,    or  about  one  per    cent,  of  the 
total  population.       Half  a   century  ago,  the 
number  was   probably   somewhat   more  than 
6,000,  of  whom  about  four-fifths  had  domiciled 
in  southern  Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois, 
about  3,000  on  this  side  of  the  state  line  and 
1,000  on  the  other.     The  oldest  of  these  settle 
ments  was  that  on  Fox  river,    near    Ottawa, 
111.,  dating  from  1834.       The  first  Norwegian 
settlement    in  our  own  state    was,  doubtless, 
Jefferson  Prairie  in  Kock  county,  and  Ole  Natte- 
stad,  who  settled  there  in  1838,  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  Norwegian  settler  in  Wisconsin. 
The  Koshkonong,  Muskego  and  Kock  Prairie 
settlements  all  seem  to  have  had  their  incep 
tion  in  1839.       The  three  strongholds  of  our 
people,  fifty  years  ago,  were  Koshkonong,  with 
seven  or  eight  hundred  souls,  Muskego  in  Ka- 
cine  county,  with  about  six  hundred,  and  the 
Fox  River  settlement  with  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty.      Wisconsin,  now  so  populous  and 


PIONEER  LIFE.  489 

wealthy,  was,  in  those  early  days,  still  a  ter 
ritory  and  almost  an  unbroken  wilderness,  the 
happy  hunting  ground  of  the  red  men.  There 
was  not  a  mile  of  railway  within  her  borders, 
and  even  passable  wagon  roads  were  few  and 
far  between.  Horses  were  scarce.  I  am  told 
that  the  seven  or  eight  hundred  Norwegians 
on  the  Koshkonong  prairies  had  one  horse  be 
tween  them  and  that  a  poor  one.  'Buck  and 
Bright'  and  a  Kubberulle  or  other  primitive 
wagon,  were  about  the  only  means  of  trans 
portation,  and  Milwaukee,  or  Chicago,  was  the 
nearest  market.  Milwaukee  was  a  city  of 
about  7,000  inhabitants,  and  Madison,  our 
beautiful  capital  city,  was  an  ambitious  village 
of  700,  while  the  total  population  of  the  state 
was  about  35,000. 

"Our  Norwegian  pioneers  were  poor,  but  they 
were  not  paupers.  They  had  not  come  here  to 
beg  and  steal,  nor  to  sponge  on  their  neigh 
bors.  It  was  not  their  ambition  to  be  organ 
grinders,  peanut  venders  or  rag-pickers.  They 
had  come  to  make  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows 
an  honest  living,  and  they  were  amply  able  to 
do  so.  They  possessed  stout  hearts,  willing 
hands,  and  robust  health,  and  nearly  all  had 
learned  at  least  the  rudiments  of  some  useful 
trade.  And  the  women,  our  mothers  and 


440  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

grandmothers,  God  bless  them!  were  worthy 
consorts  of  the  men  who  laid  low  the  giants  of 
the  forest,  and  made  the  wilderness  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  the  rose.      They  girded  their  loins 
with  strength.      They  were  able  to  stand  al 
most  any  amount  of  privation  and  toil.     They 
were  not  afraid  of  a  mouse.       They  were  in 
blissful  ignorance    of  the  fact  that   they  had 
nerves.     They  knew  nothing  of  'that  tired  feel 
ing,'  and  did  not  need  the  services  of  the  dentist 
every  other   week.      They   did  not   have   soft 
velvety  hands,  as  some  of  us,  who  were  bad 
boys,  had  reason  to  know;  but  for  all  that  they 
had  tender,  motherly  hearts.     They  could  not 
paint  on  china,    or  pound  out  'The  Mocking 
Bird'  on  the  piano,  but  they  could  spin  and 
knit  and  weave.     The  dear  souls  could  not  drive 
a  nail  any  better   than  their  granddaughters 
can,  but  they  could  drive — a  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
handle  the  pitchfork  and  the  rake  almost  as 
well  as  the  broom  and  the  mop.     Our  mothers 
and  grandmothers  did  not  ruin  our  digestion 
with  mince-pie  and  chicken-salad,  but  gave  us 
wholesome  and  toothsome  flatbrod  and  mylsa 
and  brim  and  prim  and  bresta,  the  kind  of  food 
on  which  a  hundred    generations    of  Norway 
seamen  and  mountaineers  have  been  raised. 
"Our  Norwegian  pioneers  were  ignorant  of 


PIONEER  LIFE.  441 

the  language,  the  laws,  and  the  institutions  of 
their  adopted  country,  and  in  this  respect  were, 
indeed,  heavily  handicapped.     The  German  im 
migrant  found   compatriots   everywhere,  and, 
at  least,  in  all  the  larger  cities  German  news 
papers,     German    officials,     German    lawyers, 
doctors,   and   business-men.     The  Norwegians 
had  not  a  single  newspaper,  and,  outside  of  a 
few  struggling  frontier  settlements,  there  was 
practically  not  a  soul  with  whom  he  could  com 
municate.     But  though  our  pioneers  were  ig 
norant  of  the  English  language,  they  were  not 
illiterates.       They  had  books  and  could  read 
them,  and  by  and  by  astonished  natives  were 
forced  to  confess,  'Them  'ere  Norwegians  are 
almost  as  white  as  we  are,  and  they  kin  read, 
too,  they  kin.'      If  in  those  early  Norwegian 
settlements  books  were    few,  a  family    Bible 
and   some   of   Luther's   writings   were   rarely 
wanting,  even  in  the  humblest  homes.     If  the 
people  were  not  versed  in  some  of  the  branches 
now  taught  in  almost  every  common  school, 
they  were  well  grounded  in  the  Catechism,  the 
Forklaring,  and  the  Bible  History,  as  all  their 
bright  and  good  grandchildren  are  today. 

"The  houses  of  our  pioneers  of  fifty  years  ago 
were  log  cabins,  shanties  and  dugouts.  Men 
and  women  alike  were  dressed  in  blue  drilling 


442  NORWEGIAN  IMMIGRATION. 

or  in  coarse  homespun,  brought  over  from  the 
old  country  in  those  large,  bright-painted 
chests.  In  1844,  I  am  told,  not  a  woman  on 
Koshkonong  prairie  was  the  proud^  possessor 
of  a  hat.  Some  of  the  good  wives  and  daugh 
ters  of  those  days  sported  home-made  sun 
bonnets,  but  the  majority  contented  themselves 
with  the  old-country  kerchief.  Carpets,  kero 
sene  lamps,  coal  stoves,  or  sewing  machines, 
reapers,  threshing  machines,  top-buggies  and 
Stoughton  wagons,  were  things  not  dreamed 
of. 

"Among  these  pioneers  of  Norwegian  immi 
gration  were  also  the  pioneers  of  our  Norwe 
gian  Lutheran  church,  to  whom  this  monument 
is  dedicated." 

He  who  continues  the  story  of  Norwegian 
immigration  will  find  a  rapidly  increasing  pop 
ulation  and  many  new  settlements  to  deal  with. 
The  materials  continually  grow  more  abun 
dant  and  complicated.  The  Norwegian  group 
of  our  population  is  today  scattered  throughout 
the  United  States.  There  are  hundreds  of 
churches  and  ministers,  scores  of  newspapers, 
and  a  large  number  of  colleges  and  academies. 
Scandinavian  professorships  have  also  been  es 
tablished  in  many  of  the  leading  American 
universities  and  colleges.  The  writer  of  this 


PIONEER  LIFE.  443 

volume  had  the  honor  of  filling  the  first  chaii 
of  Scandinavian  languages  in  an  American 
university. 

This  large  body  of  Norwegians  become 
Americanized  fully  as  rapidly  as  any  other 
class  of  immigrants  from  the  European  conti« 
nent  They  acquire  the  English  language 
easily,  and  make  most  loyal  citizens.  They  are 
by  nature  industrious  and  thrifty  and  pay 
much  attention  to  the  proper  education  of  their 
children.  It  is  universally  admitted  that  the 
Norwegians  are  among  the  most  desirable  im 
migrants  to  this  country  from  Europe.  While 
the  Norwegians  have  filled  a  considerable 
number  of  offices,  national,  state,  and  county 
and  as  a  rule  with  great  credit  to  themselves, 
they  are  not  an  office-seeking  class.  The  Nor 
wegian  press  is,  as  a  rule,  enlightened  and  ex 
ceedingly  loyal  to  the  highest  interests  of 
America  and  her  institutions. 


444  APPENDIX* 


APPENDIX 


Brief  Sketch  of  the  Author. 

Assuming  that  some  of  the  readers  may  be 
interested  in  learning  something  about  the 
author  of  this  volume,  and  in  as  much  as  he 
is  a  descendant  of  one  of  those  who  constituted 
the  exodus  of  1836,  a  brief  sketch  of  him  is 
here  given.  It  is  copied,  with  some  omissions, 
from  the  Madison,  Wisconsin,  Democrat: 

"Hon.  Kasmus  B.  Anderson,  the  Norse 
scholar,  was  born  in  the  township  of  Albion, 
Dane  county,  Wis.,  January  12,  1846.  His 
father,  Bjorn  Anderson,  came  from  Norway  in 
1836. 

"Kasmus  B.  Anderson  grew  up  on  the  farm 
of  his  parents  in  Albion,  and  as  a  boy  he  dili 
gently  attended  the  public  school.  He  also 
received  instruction  from  Carl  Johan  Rasch  at 
the  parsonage  of  Eev.  A.  C.  Preus  on  Koshko- 
nong. 

"From  1862-1865  he  attended  the  Norwegian 
Luther  College  at  Decorah,  Iowa,  and  is  a 


BRIEF   SHETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  445 

member  of  the  first  class  of  alumni  of  that  in 
stitution.  In  1866  he  was  made  professor  of 
Greek  and  modern  languages  at  Albion  Acad 
emy  near  his  home. 

"On  account  of  his  success  at  this  school  he 
attracted  the  notice  of  the  authorities  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  at  Madison.  Having 
severed  his  connection  with  Albion  Academy, 
he  spent  the  spring  term  of  1869  as  a  post 
graduate  student  in  the  University  of  Wiscon 
sin,  at  tlie  end  of  which  time  he  was  made  an 
instructor  in  languages  in  the  institution.  He 
served  in  this  capacity  until  the  summer  of 
1875,  when  the  professorship  of  Scandinavian 
languages  and  literature  was  created  for  him. 
Before  this  time  he  had  lectured  on  Scandina 
vian  subjects,  and  had,  as  an  instructor,  taught 
the  Scandinavian  languages.  He  also  founded 
a  Scandinavian  library  in  the  university.  This 
project  received  the  cordial  support  of  the 
famous  Norwegian  violinist,  Ole  Bull,  who,  on 
the  17th  of  May,  1872,  (Norway's  natal  day), 
gave  a  concert  in  Madison  in  aid  of  the  enter 
prise.  Prof.  Anderson  and  Ole  Bull  were  very 
warm  friends.  Madison  was  for  some  years  Ole 
Bull's  American  home.  Together  they  con 
ceived  many  a  scheme  for  the  spread  of  the 
fame  of  Norway  and  the  Norsemen.  Among 


446  APPENDIX. 

other  things  they  formed  a  plan  and  started  a 
fund  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  in  honor 
of  Leif  Erikson.  This  monument  was  erected 
in  Boston  in  1887.  In  1872  Prof.  Anderson 
visited  Norway  in  company  with  Ole  Bull  to 
extend  his  acquaintance  with  the  literature 
and  scholars  of  northern  Europe.  On  this  trip 
he  met  the  Norwegian  poet,  Bjornson,  with 
whom  he  traveled  on  foot  through  some  of  the 
most  delightful  parts  of  Norway.  Several  years 
later  Bjornson  visited  America,  and  made  a 
lecturing  tour  among  his  countrymen  through 
out  the  northwest,  under  the  auspices  of  Prof. 
Anderson,  at  whose  home  in  Madison  he  was 
a  frequent  guest. 

"Prof.  Anderson  has  been  a  prolific  writer. 
He  began  to  write  for  the  press  at  the  age  of  19, 
and  he  has  ever  since  been  an  extensive  con 
tributor  to  both  Norwegian  and  American 
periodicals.  He  has  contributed  also  to  John 
son's  Universal  Cyclopedia,  McClintock  & 
Strong's  Cyclopedia,  and  Kiddel  and  Schem's 
Year  Book  of  Education,  to  the  American  Sup 
plement  to  Encyclopedia  Britannica  and  to  the 
last  edition  of  Chamber's  Encyclopedia.  He  is 
also  one  of  the  editorial  staff  of  Funk  &  Wag- 
nail's  Standard  Dictionary  of  the  English  Lan 
guage.  His  interest  in  the  American  common 


BRIEF   SKETCH  OF   THE   AUTHOR.  447 

school  system  has  been  great,  and  some  years 
ago  he  made  himself  widely  known  by  con 
ducting  an  active  controversy  in  defense  of  it 
with  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  clergy  in  the 
northwest. 

"Prof.  Anderson  has  lectured  extensively 
both  in  this  country  and  in  Scandinavia.  In 
1874  he  spoke  in  the  house  of  the  poet  Long 
fellow  to  a  select  audience  of  literary  celebrities 
on  the  subject  of  Norse  Mythology,  and  in  1877 
he  delivered  a  course  of  four  lectures  upon 
Norse  literature  at  the  Peabody  Institute  in 
Baltimore. 

"As  an  author  of  books  he  has  won  an  en 
viable  reputation.  He  began  his  career  in 
1872  with  the  publication  of  a  collection  of 
Norse  folk-lore  stories,  called  Jnlegave,  now  in 
the  7th  edition.  In  1874  he  published  a  little 
book  in  Norwegian,  entitled  Den  Norske  Maal- 
sag,  and  also  his  first  book  in  English,  America 
Not  Discovered  by  Columbus,  which  gives  a 
short  account  of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
the  Norsemen.  Of  this  work  translations  have 
appeared  in  Norwegian,  Danish,  German  and 
Russian. 

"Prof.  Anderson's  most  important  contribu 
tion  to  literature,  Norse  Mythology,  appeared 
in  1875.  It  contains  an  exhaustive  and  sys- 


448  APPENDIX. 

tematic  presentation  of  the  religion  of  the  old 
Northmen.  It  is  the  only  adequate  treatment 
of  the  subject  in  the  English  language.  It  has 
been  well  received  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  and  has  been  translated  into  French, 
German,  Italian  and  even  into  Danish.  His 
next  publication  was  Viking  Tales  of  the 
North,  1877.  This  work  contains  a  translation 
of  the  two  old  Norse  sagas  into  English,  and 
the  Swedish  author,  Bishop  Tegn^r's  poem, 
Frithiof  s  Saga,  based  upon  them.  This  work 
also  contains  an  introduction  on  saga  litera 
ture  and  a  biography  of  Tegn^r.  In  1880  he 
published  The  Younger  Edda,  a  translation 
from  Old  Norse.  This  book  is,  as  it  is  some 
times  put,  th'e  New  Testament  of  Norse  my 
thology.  During  the  years  of  1881--2  he  su 
perintended  the  translation  and  publication  of 
Bjornson's  novels  and  stories,  in  seven  volumes. 
In  1884  he  published  a  translation  of  Dr.  F. 
Winkel  Horn's  History  of  the  Literature  of  the 
Scandinavian  North  From  the  Earliest  Periods 
to  the  Present  Time.  His  introduction  to  the 
translation  of  Kristofer  Janson's  The  Spell 
Bound  Fiddler  contains  an  interesting  sketch 
of  Ole  Bull. 

"In  1885  Prof.  Anderson  was  appointed  by 
President  Cleveland  United  States  minister  to 


BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR.      449 

Denmark,  which  position  he  held  until  the 
autumn  of  1889.  Before  receiving  this  ap 
pointment  (in  the  fall  of  1883)  he  had  severed 
his  connection  with  the  university  for  the  pur 
pose  of  going  into  business. 

"Prof.  Anderson  proved  a  valuable  man  at 
the  Danish  capital.  He  was  thoroughly  con 
versant  with  the  language  of  the  country  be 
fore  going  there,  and  hence  was  in  a  position 
to  profit  much  from  his  stay  in  the  Athens  of 
the  north,  where  it  was  his  good  fortune  to 
make  the  personal  acquaintance  of  nearly  all 
the  scholars  and  artists  of  Scandinavia.  On 
the  election  of  President  Harrison  a  petition, 
signed  by  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  three 
Scandinavian  countries,  was  sent  to  Washing 
ton,  asking  his  retention  in  Copenhagen. 

"While  in  Copenhagen  he  became  very  pop 
ular,  not  only  in  literary  but  also  in  diplomatic 
and  social  circles.  This  did  not,  however,  pre 
vent  him  from  being  active  in  a  literary  way. 
In  1886  he  published  a  translation  from  the 
Danish  of  Georg  Brandes's  Eminent  Authors 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  Dr.  Brandes  is 
the  most  distinguished  literary  critic  in  Scan 
dinavia, — the  Taine  of  the  North.  In  1887 
Prof.  Anderson  wrote  the  chapter  on  Ancient 
29 


450  APPENDIX. 

Scandinavian  Religion,  which  was  published 
in  a  London  work,  entitled  Non-Biblical  Sys 
tems  of  Religion.  In  1889  London  firms  pub 
lished  his  translation  from  the  Swedish  of  Dr. 
Viktor  Rydberg's  monumental  work,  entitled 
Teutonic  Mythology,  his  revision  of  Samuel 
Laing's  translation  of  The  Ileimskringla  or  the 
Sagas  of  the  Norse  Kings,  and  his  translation 
of  Dr.  Carl  Lumholtz's  work  Among  Cannibals. 

"Prof.  Anderson  now  resides  in  Madison, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  has  a  comfortable  home. 

"On  July  21,  1868,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Bertha  Karina  Olson,  of  Cambridge,  Wis.  She 
was  born  February  11,  1848,  at  Bjornerud  near 
Christiania,  Norway,  and  came  to  this  country 
with  her  parents  in  1852. 

"Prof,  and  Mrs.  Anderson  have  had  five  chil 
dren,  four  of  whom  are  living:  Hannah  Bu- 
rena,  born  April  18,  1869,  died  April  18,  1870; 
Carletta  Cathrina,  born  December  4,  1870; 
George  Krogh,  born  November  7,  1872;  Hjal- 
niar  Odin,  born  June  7,  1876,  and  Rolf  Bull, 
born  December  17,  1883. 

"The  literary  work  of  Prof.  Anderson  has 
been  enormous,  and  even  a  partial  list  of  his 
original  writings  and  translations  would  out 
run  the  limits. of  this  article." 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Aae,  Aria* 410,  431 

Aaragerb6,  Endre  Osmundson 

(See  Osmundson). 

AaragerbS,   Herman  Osmundson 

(See  Osmundson). 

Aardal  (parish) Ill,  196,  223 

Aareg... 227 

Aarhus 21 

Aasen,  Andrew  Anderson  (see  An 
derson)  . 

Aasen,  Einar  Anderson   (see  An 
derson)  . 
Aasen,  S.  Jacobson(see  Jacobson). 

Aasen,  Sven 108 

Aasland.  Ole.... 84,88, 109,264,265,  368 
369,  430 

Abel,  Henrik 12 

Abrahamson,  Bertha  .Andrea 363 

Adams 151 

Adams(Co) 152,227,  228,  231 

Adams,  John 27,     28 

Adland,  Bertha 288 

Adland,  Carrie  ..  .  288 

Adland.  Edwin 288 

Adland,  Ellen  (Jr.)     288 

Adland,  Ellen  (Thompson) 2*6 

Adland,  Jessie 288 

Adland,  Knud 225,  <!87 

Adland,  Lavina 2S8 

Adland ,  Martha 225,  287 

Adland,  Martha  (Jr.) 288 

Adland,  Mons 197,  201,    205,    225 

247,  284^289,  368 

Adland,  Mons  K .  286 

Adland,  Mrs 289 

Adland,  Peter    ...  288 

Adland,  Thomas 225,285,   287 

288,  295 

Adland,  Thomas  (Jr .) 288 

Adrian 144,219,  367 

^gir....44,  148,  196-198,  206,   223-225 
231,  238,  268 

JEr6 417 

Africa ..  214 

Alabama 42 

Albany 65.76,229 

Albion.   ...107,  149,  157,  161,  162,  164 

167-170,    330,  342,   344,  345 

347.  348,  352,  353,  356,  444 

<rhion  Academy 445 


PAGE. 

Alexandria  866 

Allen,  Joseph 47 

Allen,  Margaret. . . .46,  67 

Allen,  William...  46 

Alliance 27 

American  Bible  Society 409 

Amundson,  Albert  Christian 164 

Amundson,  Bright 164 

Amundson,  Bright,  Mrs.  164 

Andersen,  Rasmus,  Kev 22 

Anderson,  AbelB 164 

Anderson,  Abel  Catherine 157,  164 

Anderson,  Amund  (Hornef  jeld) . . .  149 

150,  167-170,  326,  342,  343,  346 

347,  351.  353,  36*5,  425,  431 

Anderson,  Amund  (Rossaland) ....   166 

167,  342-345 

Anderson,Andrew(Aasen).150, 171,  178 

Anderson,  Andrew  J  101 

Anderson,  Anna 84 

Anderson,  A.  S 108,  40S 

Anderson,  Anold  Andrew.  ...156,  160 

163-166.  313,  846 

Anderson,Bernt  Augustinus  Bruun  1C4 

Anderson,  Bjorn  (Kvelve) 43,  155 

156,  159,-164,  171,  198,  199,  245 

247,  248,  326,  342,  346,  347,  351 

353    356,  366,  406,  430,  444 

Anderson,  Bruun.  156,  160,  163,165,  168 

Anderson,  (Capt.)  427 

Anderson,  Carletta  Cathrina 450 

Anderson,  Cecelia 164,  166,  168 

Anderson,  Christopher 85 

Anderson,  Dina 157,  164 

Anderson,  Eiuar  (Aasen)  150,  156,  177 

Anderson,  Elizabeth 164,  163 

Anderson,  George  Krogh  450 

Anderson,  Hannah  Bureua 450 

Anderson,  Hans  Christian 1 ,  14 

Anderson,  Hjalmar  Odin 450 

Anderson,  Jacob  (Slogvig) 92,  93 

100,  102,  174,  175,  186  187 
Anderson,  Jacob  (Slogvig),  Mrs..  128 

Anderson,  J.  E.,  Mrs £91 

Anderson,  John 333 

Anderson,  Knud  (Slogvig) 102,  103 

135,  136,  147-149,  154,  155-159 
195,  196,  206,  240,  267 

Anderson,  Lars 85 

Anderson,  M 84 

Anderson,  Martha 164 


452 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Anderson,  Oto 278 

Anderson,  Os  jnund  (Sandsberg) . .  137 

Anderson,  Rasmus  B.,  Prof  ....  85,    90 

164,  168,  800,  801,  343 

362,  802,  407,  444,  450 

Anderson,  Robert 25 

Anderson,  Rolf  Bull...  , 450 

Anderson,  Soren 150 

Anglo-Saxon 6,  320 

Anixstad  (ford) 840 

Ankerson,  (Capt.) ...  .250,  257,  262,  268 
832,  361 

Archimedes,  The  Danish 10 

Arctic 12,  13,  300 

ArendaL ...374,  394 

Ariel !    27 

Arizona 42 

Arkansas 42 

Armstrong,  John 174 

Asbjornson,  Peder  (Mehus)...410,  4-31 

Asbby 100 

Asia 12,  20,  21,    35 

Asiatic 173,  321 

Askeland,  Anders 186,  187 

Aslakson,  Knud  (Juve) 426 

Atlantic 12,  16,  57,  59,  67,  71,  198 

286,  316,  383,  433 

Atwater,  John 67 

Atwater,  Mrs 63,  91,  98,  127,  131 

Augsvaldsnaes 389 

Aurdal 229 

Aurland 61 

Aurora 114 

Austin 3r:3 

Avon 253 


B. 

Babel  .................  9 

Baptists....  212,  280,  237,  398,  400,  408 

414,  415,  417,  428 
Bache,  SBren....  877-281,  292,  294,  866 

411,  418,  430 
Bache,  Tollef  ..........  298,  418,  41 

Bakke,  Elien  Sanderson. 

(See  Sanderson). 
Bakketun,  Anna.  ..................  82 

Baldwin's  History    of    La  Salle 
County  ...................  179 

Baldimore  .....  ..............  197,  447 

Baldi  more  American  .........  73,    75 

Baraboo.  .  ...............  ....  844,  345 

Barby  ............................      21 

Barlians  .......  .  .....  ............  235 

Barlien,  Hans.  ...  188,  288,  286,  869,  430 

Bauge,  Thomas  ........  .  .....  197,  198 

Bayard,  Thomas  F  ......  .  ........    26 

Beaver  Creek.  .  .  .  161,  1&,  198-208,  211 


, 

Behrens  (CapfeJ  ...............  44,  197 


PAOB. 

Beitstaden  (parish) 325 

Bellman.... 14 

Beloit. . . .  118,  166,  168, 86ft  886,  388-340 

Bennett's  History 120,'  123 

Bennett,  L.   G.    (Major)....  114,  121 
122,  126 

Bentley,  William 315 

Benton  (Co.) 111,151,158,  410 

Beowulf 6 

Berg,  Anna  Olson  (see  Olson). 
Berge,  Knut  (see  Bergh) . 
Bergen..  .  44,  56,  64,  109,  147,  148,  151 
154,  189, 195,  196,  197,  2?8,  245,  268 
285,  286,  295,  327,  358 

Bergen  (family)    23,     24 

Bergen,  Hans  Hanson    23 ,    87 

Bergen,  Teunis 24 

Bergh,  Knut  (Berge) 333 

Bering,  Strait 20 

Bering,  Virus. 20 

Berzelius,  J.  J  11 

Biddulph  (Adjutant), 118,  120,  125 

Billed  Magazin 215,238, 247,  249 

280|  349 

Bill  of  Rights 5 

Biorkman,  Peter 28 

Birch  Run 80,  105 

Bishop  Hill  (Colony) 154, 181,  189 

Bjaadland,   Thornstein  Olson  — 

(See  Olson). 
BjSrnson,  John  Haldorson.  .  .(See 

Haldorson) 

Bjo'rnerud 450 

Bjornson,  Bj8rnstjerne....l4,  446,  448 

Black  (Dr.) 377 

Blackhammer 221,  23£ 

Blair,  Bernt 233 

Bloomfleld 322 

Blue  Mounds 232,  322 

Bolstad,  Anna  Larson,  Mrs . . .  (See 

Larson) 
Bolstad,  Nils  Larson    ..  (See  Larson) 

Bolten,  Alida  von 158 

Bolten,  Dtetrich  von 158 

Bondis,  G 874 

Bon  Homme,  Richard 27-29 

Boone(Co.) 166,  168,238,  253,  365 

Boorman  &  Johnson 70,    78 

Bosque  394 

Bosque  (Co.) 190, 191,380-382 


Bosque  (river) 393 

Boston  ....27,  43,  73,  141,  18D,  251,  270 
271,  810 

Bouton  (Quartermaster) 118 

Bower,  R.  W.  (Dr.) 106 

Bower,  Mrs 177 

Bowerson,  Knute 264 

Braakke,  Anders  Nelson. 

(See  Nelson.) 

Bnekke-Eiet,  Halver  Halverson. 
(See  Halverson.) 


INDEX. 


453 


PAGE. 

Breekke,  Knud 329 

Brahe,  Tycho ...7,  8 

Brakestad,  John 410,  431 

Brandos,  Georg 449 

Brandt,  Mr 357 

Bradstad   96 

Bra^trop 873 

Brazos  (river)  372 

Bredesen,  Adolph,  Rev 426,  437 

Bremen 58,  158 

Bretten,  Andrew 394 

Brevig 233 

Brimble,  Malinda,  Mra 227 

Brimsoe,  Lars  Larson (See 

Larson) 

Bristol 157 

British 9,86,  812 

British  Channel 57 

British  Museum 6 

Broadway(St.) 2V 

Brodstad,  Annie,  Mrs 349 

Brookfleld 99 

Brooklyn 22,  43 

Brown.  Ellen 99 

Brown,  F.  M 90 

Brown,  Lewis 29 

Brownsboro 875,377,378,380,  381 

384,  334 

Brudvig,  Ingebright 197, 199  200 

Bruun.Engel ..    389 

Budstikken 383 

Buffalo..     102,165,194,229,257,26-},   271 
310-312,  390 

Buffalo  (Texas) 881 

Bull,  Ole 1,14,445-448 

Bunyan,  John 49 

Bush  (Capt.) 116,   119 

Busseyvilie 346 

Butler 300 

Bygland 421 

Byron 32 

Bystolen,  Magne 329, 832,  334-336 

841,  844-340,  849,  851,  363,  854,  366 


o. 

Ceesars 8 

California 42,101,108,128,140,  145 

Calumet 195 

Calvanists 212 

Calwick,  O 394 

Cambridge.. ..164,  291,330,832,334,  335 
845,357,  450 

Canada 325 

Canadian 67 

Canuteson,  Canute 394 

Canuteson,  Mrs 395 

Canuteson,  Ole....  188, 188, 190-192,  869 


PAOE. 

Canutesons 887,393,  394 

Cappelen,  Didrik 233 

Capricorn 801 

Carolina,  North... 42 

Carolina,  South 42 

Carstensen,  Claes 28,  C4,    37 

Cary,  Susan  109 

Catholic- 189,212,319,823,  422 

Chamberlain,  Miss 109,  409 

Chamber's  Encyclopedia 446 

Charleston 25 

Cheljuskin,  Cape 12 

Chicago  ...  43,  67,  68,102,  123,  151,  152 
161, 165,  171,  190,  194,  195,  198,  200 
223-231,  244-247,  251,  256,  259,  271 
272,  285,  286,  327-330,  332,  333,  336 
387,  349,  357,  358,  365,  386,  890,  403 
411,  413,  414,  435,  439 

Chickamauga 123 

Chickamauga  (Battlexof) 279,  282 

Chinese    429 

Christian  the  IV  (King)    21 

Christiana 149,  169,  327,  330,  332 

334-342,  847-349,  352,  353,  356,  426 

Christiania 47,  87,  ?02,  207,  216 

235,  239,  267,  284,  338 
871,  372,  382,  423,  450 

Christianity        -. 18,381 

Christians 18,  19,  49, 188,  192,  212 

243,  409 

Christiansand 147,  219,  374,  375 

Christiansandsposten ?71 

Christopherson,  Christopher, 

(Hervig)  ...  102 

Churchhill  (river) 22 

Cincinnati 73,  373 

Clark  (Co.) 154,  368 

Clausen,  C.  L.,  Rev. . .  .257,  279,281,  284 
296-299,  316-410,  416-422,  426-431 

Cleason,  Cleas 160,  177 

Cleveland   187,329 

Cleveland  (Pres.) 448 

Clinton 237,238,248,  253 

Close  Communion  Baptists 400 

Colon,  Marshall 88,  105 

Colon,  Mrs 105 

Colorado 42,    43 

Columbia 125 

Columbia  (Co.) 166 

Columbia,  District  of.. 42 

Columbian... .  20 

Columbus 15,17,19,     24 

Colwick ,  O.  (Kiolvig) 190 

Commercial  Advertiser 69 

Congress 373 

Connecticut 41 

Constantinople 4 

Consulen,  Ole , ..414,  416 

Cook  (Co.) ".  .67,  128 

Cook,  J.  E.,  Mrs    291 

Cooperstown 73 

Copenhagen 81,  46,  886,  371,  409 


454 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Cornelluson,  Nels  (Hersdal) 101 

Cothrien,  Cornelius. 99 

Cowan 124 

Crittenden,  Gen 118 

D. 

Dahl,  Andrew  CBndre)  ....93,  108,  160 
106,  174,  184,  406 

Dahl,  Henrik.... 394 

Dahle.O.B 295 

Dahlgren,  Joh«  A 25,  26 

Dakota,  North.... 42,  43,  291,  292,  334 

Dakota,  South 42,  43,  99,  142 

300,  363 

Dale,  Anna,  Mrs 2'J5 

Dale,  John  J .....  295 

Dale,  Sjur 389 

Dallas 139,  140,  189,  190,  193,  887 

391-394 

Dallas  (Co .) 369,  370,  386,  388 

Danaw 4 

Dane. ...  8,  9,  20,  22,  41-43,  164,  279,  296 

312,  318,  323,  416,  424 

Dane  (Co.)....  107,  149,  157,  161,  1G5 

167,  222,  263,  276,  277,  291,  295,  323 

326,  328,  329,  332-334,  336,   347 

851-353,  366,  398,  415,  417 

Dane  County  Court  House 353 

Daneville 156 

Danielson,  Anna 85,  89,  90,  104 

Danielson,  C.  (Valle) 61,  62,  151 

173,  176,  177,  197,  232,  223,229,  231 

Danielson,  Da- iel 89 

Danielson,  Gitle  306-313 

Danielson,  Gitle,  Mrs 807,  308 

Danielson,  Hans. 164 

Danielson,  Kiiud 228 

Danielson,  Mali  ndj, 229-231 

Danielson,  Rasmus 84,  89 

Danielson,  Susan,  Mrs 407 

Danish. ...  1,  6,  7,  10,  21,  22,  46,  70,  72 
158,  165,  192,  299,  378,  447-449 

Darnell,  Sarah,  Mrs 327 

Davidson,  Lars  (Rekve)..  829,330,  354 

Davidson,  Mrs 204 

Davis  (Co.) 260 

Davis,  Gen 119 

Day  (Co.) 300 

Decherd 261 

Declaration  of  Independence ....  5,  25 

319 

Decorah 222,291,292,  444 

De  Costa,  B.  F 33 

Deei-field....327,  332,  335, [336,  347,  350 
352,  353 

DeForest 329 

Delaware 24-26,42,  45 

Demokraten 226,  295 

Denmark....  1,2,  6,  6,  8,  9,20,  38,    40 

46, 158,  159,  165,  316,  324 

405,411,417,418,423,  449 


PACK. 

Denning,  Lieut 119 

DenNorskeKlippe.....48,  44,  148,  149 

Department  of  the  Interior 852 

De  SoHdo 8 

Detroit.102,  200,  219,  224,  244,265,  3G7 
Dietrichson  .  J.  W.  C.  Rev ....  VHL 

'  45,  150,  225,  855,  401,  402 
410,  414.  420,  423-129,  431 

Dodgeville 242 

DOvig,  Mr 198 

Downing,  Mr ,   ..256 

Drammen....215,  216,  250,  257.  259,  262 

267,  268,  277,  282,  298,  309 

317,  357,  361,  362,  366,  368 

418,  419 

DrSbak 358 

Dueland,  Henrik. 102 

Ducleth,  Gunnerius  P 874 

Dugstad,  Lars  Olson  (see  Olson). 

Dunbar,  Henry 313,  314 

Dunbar,  Henry,  Mrs.  814 

Duncan's  Grove 413 

Duudas,  J.  C.,  Dr 857 

Dunkirk 276 

Dusgaard 203 

Dyvik,  Ole. 828,  329 


a 

East  (Church). 157,  426 

Edgerton 839 

Edison 10 

Eenhjo'rningen  .... 21 

Egersund 44,  60,  148,  196,  268 

360,  361 
Eide,  Knud  Olson  (see  Olson). 

Eidsfjord 402 

Eidsvold 216 

Eidsvoldsman,  son  of  ......  872 

Eie,  Ole  Thompson. 

(See  Thompson.) 

Eielson,  Elling.    295,  296,  299,  410-416 
418,  421,  422,  427,  428,  431 
Einung,  Anne  Jacobson. 

(See  Jacobson.) 
Einung,  John  Jacobson. 

(See  Jacobson.) 
Einung,  Austin  Jacobson. 

(See  Jacobson.) 
Einung,  Susana  Jacobson. 

(See  Jacobson.) 

Ellertson,  H.  J 283,  419 

Ellingians  .. 428 

Ellin  g's  Meeting  House 406 

Emblon  (m.),  Daniel 29 

Emelia 250,  256,  259,  268,  836,  361 

Emington 99,  106 

Encyclopedia  Britannica 446 

Emerson,  Nels 264 

Engelhoug       882 


INDEX. 


455 


X-AUTCJ. 

England  ..  .2,  4-0,  24,  26,  45.  46,  49-51 

56,  57,71,  216,  263,  318,  319,  325 

English. . .  .32,  46,  56,  65,  71,  79,  109,  128 

135,  142,  184,  191,  197,  245,   250 

260,  263,  283,  284,  301,  314,   820 

324,  361,  407,  -441,  443,  440,  448 

Enighedon 44,60-62,75,  148,  17? 

196,  198,  219,  222-2^4 

229,  231,  238,  268,  360 

Enochson,  Andei-s  (Quadland)  —  i«y 

Ephraim 95,  182,  401-404,  407 

Episcopal     415,  417 

Episcopalian 358 

Ericsson,  John .20,26,    30 

Erie  142 

Erie  (canal) 31C,  312 

Erie  (lake)...  312 

Erikson,  Henrik  (Sebbe) .  .* 152 

Erikson,  Ida 99 

Erikson,  LeiC 17-20,  82,  211,  446 

Erikson,  Mary S9 

Erikson  (Mate) 56,  64,  93,  109 

Erikson,  Torkel  H 178 

Erik,  The  Red 17,    18 

Erik  Upse 19 

Espeland,  Osten 219,  220 

Etne 199.  227 

Europe 2-4,  7,  12,  15,  16,  23,  38-3(5 

46,     137,  159,  191,  197 

207,  318,  319,  321,   323 

361,  385,  44:!,  446,  448 

European. .  .18,  19,  31,  35,  311,  367,  443 

Evangelist 401 

Evening  Post  (New  York) 76 

Evensen,  Catherine 129,   141 

Evensen,  Knut ....129,  141 

Evenson,  Halvor .  802,  304,  305 

Evenson,  John 303 

Evenson,  John  (Moleo)...275,  300,  326 


Faaberg 855 

Fadrelandet  og  Emigranten 79 

Fairfleld 166 

Fall  River 199,  238,  244 

Fareys 16 

Fargo 291 

Farmington 144 

Farsund ...294,360,  361 

Fellows,  Beach 94,  111 

Fellows,  Joseph 64,77,102,  171 

179,  182 
Fellows,  Martha,  Mrs 93,  127 

173,  177 

Ferson,  Alex,  Col 30 

Fillmore  (Co) 259,275,  3 •.'$ 

Fingarson,  Fingar. 221 

Finmarken 357 

Finnboge  19 

Finno,  Anders 827, 330, 832,  335 

341,  366 


PAGE. 

Fister  (church) 138,135,  230 

Fister,  Gudmund  Osmundson. 

(See  Osmundson.) 

Fjeldberg 194,  365 

Flage,  Anders 339 

Flaten,  Rolf  Rolfson.    (See  Rolf- 
son.) 

Fledsberg 264,  368 

Florida 42,  375 

Flower,  Frank  A  ... 275 

Fogu , 47,54,60,62,  224 

Furd  (Co.) Ill 

Forest  City 291,  292 

Forest,  Gen 261 

Forsaralingshus 412 

Ft.  Atkinson 338 

Ft.  Wayne 264,  *05 

Forth  Worth 190 

Fox  River  (Settlement) ...  95,  100,  101 
112,  114,  139-141,  149,  150,  152,  153 
161,  162,  174,  170,  180,  185,  187,  189 
198-200,  204,  220,  221,  224,  2d8,  229 
231-233,  236,  244,  245,  247,  251,  254 
271,  274,  277,  280,  285,  295,  290,  328 
830,  334.  335,  342  343,  347,  348,  365 
367,  8G9,  386,  389-391,  397,  398,  400 
406,  409,  411,  427,  428,  436,  438 

Four  Mile  Prairie 139,  140,  378 

380-382,  384 

Foyen,  Sverd. 384,  385 

Foyon,  Mrs 384  • 

France....  2,  4,   6,  24,  80,  46,  50,  319 
372,  375 

Franklin 124 

Franklin  (Battle  of) 112,  114,  125 

Fredrick  the  VI  (King) 158 

Fredriksen,  Dean 381 

Fredriksen,  Emil. 381,  395 

Fvedrikstad  423 

Freedom 230 

Free  Soiler 293 

Fremont,  Mr £89 

French....  5,  11,  33,  184,   235,  305,  319 
371,383,  448 

Frenchman 31,  208 

Frcydis 19 

Fribert,  Mr 416 

Friends 47,  63,  75,  104,  143,  155 

179,  191 

Fries.  Jer.  F 142,  363 

Friis,  Hans  (Capt.) 360-364,  430 

Froland,  Anna 223 

Froland,  Nils 197,  198,  223 

Fruito 101 

Fruland,  Lars  178 

Fruland,  Nels .        178 

Fuller  &  Johnson  Manufacturing 

Co 328 

Fulton,  William  343 

Funchal 58,  59 

Funk  &  Wagnall's  Standard  Dic 
tionary  446 

k  unkeli  (br idge) 34 1 


456 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

*unKelien,  Halvor 355 

Fyen  (Stift) 417 

G. 

Gaard,  Andrew 176,  177 

Gade  ....      ....      14 

Gallic.... 32 

Galveston 273 

Gardar 18 

Gartineau,  Benjamin 29 

Gasman  (Capt.) 858 

Gasman,  Hans 358,  378,  416,  430 

Gauteson,  Erik  (Midboen) . . . .  232,  256 
Gauteson,  Gunder  (Midboen).  232,  256 

Gene 427 

General  Land  Office 852 

Georgia ..        42 

German 11,  41,  132,  184,  192,  197 

808,  241,  256,  279,  319,  361 
371,  374,  441,  447,  448 

German  Lutheran. 296,  413,  418 

Germany 319,  324 

Gerude 6 

Gibraltar 4 

Gilberfcson,  Gilbert  G  . .  258 

Gilderhus,  Anna 829 

Gilderhus,  Nils  Siverson. 

(See  Siverson.) 

Gilderhus,  Ole  K 329,  330 

Gilderhus,  Ole  S 831,  350 

Gilderhus,  Stephen  K 329 

Giii  House 378 

Gjeestvang,  Andreas 882,  383 

Gjermundson,  Gjermund    260 

Gjermundson,  Gunnel 260 

Gjermundson,  Hans  (Haugen)...  260 

Gjostein,  Knud 389 

Glaim  Cf arm) 259 

GJaim,  Helleik 259 

Glenn(Co.) 101 

Glenwood 292 

Goodhue  (Co.) 164,  202 

Goodrich,  Ezra 338,  339 

Goodrich's  ferry 168,  342 

Gothenborg  ....40,  54,  63,  81,  132,  134 

154,  199,  231,  238,  243,  244 

261,  255,  262,  264,  268,  270 

290,  292,  309,  310,  812 

Gothic ...     35 

Graceland  (cemetery) 413 

Grant  (Co.) 100 

Grant  (Pres.)....     289 

Gravdahl,  Gullek  0 258,  259 

GreatBritain '.  16 

Great  Lakes 180 

Greece 4 

Greek 4,9,  88,  429,  445 

Greeley,  Horace 289 

Green  Lake  (Co.) 142,  144,  146 

Greenland 4,  13,  19 


PAGHS. 


'  195',  206,  831,  389,  430 
Greusel  (Col.)  ......   115,117-119,  121 


Grimestad,  Klas o^1. 

Grimm •  •  r 

Grogaard,  Christian |<  2, 

uTo, 

GrQgaard,  Hans  Jacob,  Rev... 372, 

Grundtvig •   -•• 

Gudbransdsdalen •  •  •  • 

Gudbransdal !*>• 

Gudrid 

Gulbranson,'*Erik'  (Skaviem) .  .252, 
Gulbrandson,  Gulbrand  (My hre) . . 

Guldbrandson,  Guldbrand,  Mrs... 
Guldbrandson,  Jens  (Myhre).  ... 

Guldbrandson,  Jens,  Mrs .......... 

Gullixsrud,  Torsten  Ingebngtson. 

(See  IngebrigtBon.) 

Gunderson,  Ellen  Maline..  .  ..... 

Gunuison.  Ole 340, 

Gustaff,  Oliver 

Gustavus,  Adolphus •  -  • 

Guthrie  Center »•» 

Guthrie  (Co.) 

Gyntelberg,  0.  F 

H. 


376 

355 
140 

32 
262 

257 
262 

250 

262 
257 


: 


127 

98 

871 


Hale,  John  P 

Hallingdal .••  ••••• 

Hailing,  Nils 337,  344, 

Hall  (Lieut.) 

Hal\  orson,  Andreas 

Halvorson,  Andrew 

Halvorson,  Halstein 250, 

Halvorson,  Halvor iv^v,.;- 

Halvorson,  Halvor  (Brcekk-Eiet). 

Halvorson,  Halvor  K 

Halvorson,  Knud 

Halvorson,  Nels 

Hamburg .' .' .'.' '.  .'.V  46;  112,  M*  *& 

Hamilton • 

Hamilton  (Co.) 

Hamlet 

Hancock,  Pres 

Hanley  Falls ...   •••« 

Hanson  (dancing  master) 

Hanson,  E.,  Dr....    •  •  •  • 

Hanson,  Gjermund....    -^l. 


106 

329 
350 
x89 
295 
346 
125 
275 

84 
266 

47 
241 
178 
178 
178 
383 
371 
385 


853 


INDEX. 


457 


PAGl 

Hanson,  Hans  0 178 

Hanson,  Miss 

Hanson,  Ole  (see  Consulen). 

Hardanger S40,  402 

Hardanger  (fjord) 56 

Harewood  General  Hospital 364 

Harrison,  Pres 449 

Hartman  14 

Harwig,  Henrick 86 

Hattlestad,  Anna 227 

Hattlestad,  Bjorn 898,  410,  431 

Hattlestad,  O.  J. ,  Rev 226,  227 

295,  368,  410,  414 

Haugaas,  Caroline  C 106 

Haugaas,  Caroline,  Mrs 106 

Haugaas,  Daniel  106 

Haugaas,  Gudmund    92,100,105 

106,  108,  174,  175,  177,  856,  399 
401,  402,  410,  411,  428,  429,  431 

Haugaas,  Thomas 106,177,  399 

Hauge,  Hans  Nielson 48,     49 

Haugen,  Baard i"" 

Haugen,  Halvor  Pederson. 

(See  Pederson). 

Haugians  ....48,  110,  217,  237,  397-400 

409,  411,  417,  421 

Havre. . .  .40,  133,  268,  855,  372,  374,  375 

Havre  de  Grace 375 

Hayer,  A 237 

Hayer  &  Thompson 237 

Hayer,  Benjamin 23? 

Hayer,  Christian. 237 

Hayer,  Ole 237 

Hebrew 429 

Hedemarken 382 

Heg,  Andrea 2.S3 

Heg,  Cornelia,  Mrs 316 

Heg,  Even  H     .  226,  267,  278-283,  293 
311,  366,  410,  418-422.  431 

Heg(famijy) : 262 

Heg,  HaiftC.  (Col.) 113,  115,  121 

123,  275,279-283,  316 

Heg,  Mrs 281 

Heg,  Ole 280 

Heier,  Ole  Olson  (See  Olson) 

Helge 19 

Heigeson,  Thor.  (Kirkejord") .  252,  262 
Helgeson,   Thorstein  (Kirkejord) 

252,  202 

Helleksoii  (Krokan) 309 

Hellen 135,  137 

Henderson  (Co.) 381,  382,  394 

Hendrickson,  Anna  (Sebbe) 152 

Hendrickson,  Christian. 263 

Henry  (Co)  181,  189 

Hercules,  Pillars  of 4 

Herjulfson,  Bjarne 18 

Hersdal,  Amelia 94 

Hersdal,  Ann 93,  94 

Hersdal,  Bertha..  92,  101,  105,  128,  130 

Hersdal,  Caroline  (Kari) 

93,  94,  102,  129,  180,  160,  175 
HeredaL  Catherine 130 


PAGE. 

Hersdal,  Cornelius  Nelson ....  (See 
Nelson) 

Hersdal,  Inger ...  93,  94 

Hersdal,  Martha 93,  94 

Hersdal,  Nels. .  03,  94,  129, 130,  141,  176 
Hersdal,  Nels  Corneliuson .    .(See 
Corueliuson) 
Hersdal,  Nels  Nelson  (See  Nelson) 

Hersdal,  Peter  C 94 

Hersdal,  Sara  (Sarah).     ..  94,  95,  401 

Hersdal,  Susanne 101 

Hervig,  Caroline 105 

Hervig,  Cecelia 102 

Hervig,  Christopher  Christopher- 
son  (See  Christopherson). 

Hervig,  Erik 101 

Hervig,  H  ,  79,  92,  101,  103-105 

Hervig,  Jochum . .  220 

Hervig,  Martha,  Mrs 104 

Hesthammer 54,  130,  171,   179 

Hetletvedt  (farm)  110 

Hetletvedt,  Jacob  Olson (See 

Olson) 

Hetletvedt, Knud  Olson(See  Olson) 
Hetletvedt,  Lars  Olson(See  Olson) 
Hetletvedt,  Ole  Olson. (See  Olson) 

Highland 415 

Hille,  Metta 47,    50 

Hille,  Thomas 47,    50 

Himle,  Odd  J  ...  .328,  334,  335,  347,  350 
352,398,  430 

Himoe,  Stephen  O.,  Dr 283 

Hindoo 32 

Hisdal,Mr 198 

Hiser,  Lena 249 

Hitterdal  (parish) 291,  292 

Hjelmeland....  Ill,   183,  134,   152,  196 
219,  230 

Hjertdal 268 

Hjorthoi 134 

Hoffman,  Francis  Allen,  Rev.  413,  416 

Ho^enson,  Oie  278 

Holberg 14 

Holland 23,51,70,72,324 

Holley 65,  81,  £7,  104 

Holm,  Mads    323 

Holm,  Mads,  Mrs 323 

Holo,  Lars  Johanneson 

(See  Johanneson.) 

Holo,  Martin  L 356 

Holt 370 

Hood's  (army) 124,  261 

Horn,  F.  Wiukel,  Dr 448 

Hornefjeld 149 

Hornef  jeld,  Amund  Anderson 

(See  Anderson.) 

Horten 225 

Horvendel... 6 

Houston 873 

Houston  (Co.) 222 

Hovland,  Gjert  Gregoriuson 

(See  Gregoriuson.) 
Hoya,Mr 374,375 


458 


INDEX, 


PAGE 

Hudson 29 

Hudson  Bay 21,    2 

Hudson  (river)  229,310,  31 

Huguenots  50,  21 

Humboldt  (Co.).. 94 

Huron  (lake) 31 

Huse,  Andrew 39 

Hveen 

Hylle,  KnudJ 83 


Ibsen  ...  , ,.    14 

Iceland 1,5,15,17,  19,    20 

Icelanders 2, 14 

Icelandic 1,2,  320 

Idaho 42,     43 

Ilhuois....42,  43,  60,  65,  67,  68,  82,  83 
86,  94,  96-113,  120,  127-130,  133 
137,  139,  141,  149-151.  153,  156,  160 
162,  164-168,  171-174,  180,  18 1 
189-193,  203,  204,  209,  214.  215,  221 
223,  227-232,  237,  338,  244,  245,  248 
252,  253,  255,  260,  271-274,  277,  280 
286,  295,334,  350,  357.  365  368,  369 
372,  387,  394,  398,  400,'  409,  411 
413,  417,  4:33,  438 

Illuiois  (river) 358 

Illinois  (vol.)  ...114,  115,  1?0,  121,   123 

Independence. 291 

Indiana  ...42,  84,  87, 109,  214,  220,  2fi4 
265,  328,  357,  368 

Indian  Creek 221,  399 

Indian  Hill 321 

Indian  Mound 419 

Indianola 405 

Indians 107,  210,  258,  278,  279,  292 

403-405 

Ingebretson,  Syvert   2?8 

Ingebrightson,  Torsten. 

(Gullixsrud)....  232 

Iowa 42,  43,  97-99,  111,  112,  127 

151-154,  157,  164,  185-187,  193 
222,  227,  228,  231,  232,  236,  237 
257,  277,  278,  291,  292,  365,  357 
368,  369,  400,  409,  410,  412,  444 

Irish 41,   422 

Irish  Catholic 421 

Iroquois  (Co.) 161, 198, 199,  248 

286,  368 

Italian 448 

Italy 8,    24 

Iverson,  Catharine 91 

Iverson.  Halvor ...     92 

Iverson,  Knud 94 

Iverson,  Paul 178 


J. 


Jackson, 
Jacobs, 


..261,263,  26i 
90 


PAGE. 

Jacobs,  Jacob 99 

Jacobs,  James  B 99 

Jacobs,  John 99 

Jacobs,  Joseph 99 

Jacobs,  Jens 99 

Jacobs,  Mary 99 

Jacobson,  Anne  (Einong).   ,.  316,  317 
322-326 

Jacobson,  Enoch 47 

Jacobson,  Hans  J.  ..     274,  298 

Jacobson,  John  (Einong) 275,  316 

Jacobson,  Osten  (Einong) 316 

Jacobson,  S.  (Aasen)  184 

Jacobson,  Susana  (Einong) 317 

Janesville 168,  342 

Janson,  Charlotte  Marie 181 

Janson,  Erik .....154,181,  189 

Janson,  Kristofer 448 

Jansonism 154 

Jansonite 154 

Jefferson  Prairie  (settlement) ....  166 
237,  251-264,  313,  336 
838,  339,  34'>-345,  347 

365,  421,  422,   438 
Jeilane,  Lars  Larson  i(see  Larson). 

Jellarviken,  Halvor 309 

Jenks(Capt) .21,     22 

Jensen  £Capt.) 44,   196 

Jensen,  Jens 394 

Jensen,  Mr 313 

Jensen,  Rasmus 21 

Jerauld  (Co.) 9;) 

Jermo,  Marie  L 329 

Jerstad,  Lars 329 

Jews 53 

Johannesen,  Johannes 277-281.  292 

366,  411,  418,  430 
Johanneson,  Anders  (Tommersti- 

gen).. .  356 

lohanneson,  Lars  (Holo)  .   ...355,  356 

ohanneson,  Peter    356 

Johnson,  Anna  Bertha 149,   169 

Johnson,  Bessie  P 291 

Johnson,  and  Boorman .70,    72 

Johnson,  Canute '.    89 

Johnson,  Elizabeth 88,     89 

Johnson,  Erik  (Saevig) 149,  169 

Johnson,  George 29,  92,  108,  140 

Johnson,  Gjermund 292 

Johnson,  Henry  W .   .   96 

Jo.mson,  Ingeborg...   105,  149,  150,  168 

Johnson,  Inger 87,  88,  105 

Johnson,  John.. 84,88,89 

Johnson,  John 149,  169 

Johnson,  Lewis 164 

Johnson,  Malinda 104 

Johnson,  Martha  A 291 

fohnson,  Martin  N 291,  334 

Fohnson,  Mary  H 292 

Fohnson,  Mr 223 

Johnson,  Nelson  (Kaasa) 290-292 

Johnson,  Nils 309 

Johnson,  O 894 


INDEX. 


459 


PAGB. 

Johnson,  Ole .  .86-88,  92, 104,  105 

Johnson,  Phoebe 87,  105 

Juhnson,  Ragnhild.... 292 

Joliuson,  Salinda 292 

Johnson,  Thomas 26-30,  37 

Johnson,  Torsten 221 

Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopaedia.. 

69,  446 

Johnsonville 261 

John ston's  Saw  Mill 346 

Joues,  Mr 338 

Jones,  Paul     26-29 

Jordanson,  Salve. 245 

Juno 189 

Jutland 6.    20 

Juve,  Knud  Aslakson . .  (See  Aslakson) 


Kaasa(farm) 290 

Kaasa,  Nelson  Johnson (See 

.    Johnson) 
Kalrud,Bergit  Nelson  (See  Nelson) 

Kahnar  Nyckel 25,    45 

KamchtKa  (Sea  of) 20 

Kansas 42,  43,  95,  140,  283 

KansasCity 67,283 

Karmo  (Karmt) 389,  391 

Karmt  (See  Karino) 

Kaufman  (Co.) 882 

Kauring,  Rev 389 

Kendall 64,  68,  77-109,  129,  131,  138 

139,   141,  150,    170-176,  179 

180,  183,  184,  192,  193,  244 

264-266.   364,  365,   367,  369  | 

397,  398,  409,  433 

Kendall  (Co.)  ...  110,  113,  133,254,  365 

Kenosha  146 

Kentucky 42 

Keokuk 154,  185,  186,  236,  355,  369 

Keppler 8 

Key  West 875 

Kiddle  &  Schem's  Year  Book  of 

Education 446 

Kiel 4* 

Kielland  Company 48 

Kilbourn 16(3 

Kilbourn  City 845 

Kirkejord,  Thorstein  Helgeson. 

(See  Helgeson.) 
Kirkejord,  Thor  Helgeson. 

(See  Helgeson.) 
Kittelson,  Thor  (Savimbil) . . .  232,  256 

Kjeling,  Knud 221 

Kjimhus 258 

Kjolvig,  O (See  Kolwick.) 

Kjonaas,  Anna 275 

Kjonaas.  Ole 275 

Kjylaa,  Sven 112 

Klep  (parish) 166 


PAGE. 

Knudson,  Gjermund  (Stmde)... 336-341 
346,  347 

Knudson,  Halvor 178.  190,  386 

389,  391 

Knudson,  Knud 386 

Knudson,  Ole 178 

Knudsou  Ole  (Trovattan)    4.J7 

Knutson,  Gunnud  (Movem)  ..     ..  275 

Knuts  on,  Halvor 178 

Kohler  (brigs)  ....43,  45,  103,  136.  148 
151,  153,  156,  166,   268 

Kongsberg 355 

Kopervig 188,194,  389 

Koshkonong    ...150,  157,  167,  168,  225 

262,  264,  282,  297,    326-357 

366.  491,  402,  414,  415,  420 

424-428,  432,  434,    436-439 

442,  444 

Koshkonong  (creek) 345,  346 

Koshkonong  (lake).   161,  326,  34G 

Kragh,  Rev 216,  218 

Krause,  L.  F.  E.,  Rev 418 

Kravig,  Halvor 341 

Krogh,  Able  Catherine  von. ..  .43,  159 
Krogh,  Bernhardus  Arnoldus  von.  158 

Krogh,  George  Frederick  von 158 

Krofcan  (see  Hellekson). 

Kumlien,  Thure 346 

Kvelve...     165,  159 

Kvelve,  Bjo'rn  Anderson. 

(See  Anderson.) 

Kvendalen,  Lars 169,  837,  344,  346 

Kvinhered  (parish) 149 


La  Crosse 79 

La  Fayette  (Co.) 264 

Laing,  Samuel 36 

Lakeside '58 

Lamoreux,  S.  W 354 

Larnprenen 21 

Langesund  (fjord) 270,  424 

Langland,  Frank 227 

Langland,  James 227 

Langland,  Knut VIII,  147,  173,  198 

201,  225-227,  231,  280 
284,  295,  358,  430 

Langland,  Mrs 226 

Langland,  N.P .197,224,  367 

Langland,  Peter. 227,  23l 

Lapeer 224 

Laps 13 

Lamed 95,  140 

Larson,  Anna  (Bolstad),  Mrs 332 

336,  345,  347 

Larson,  Chloe  A 144 

Larson,  Clara  Elisabeth 68 

Larson,  E  lias  Tastad 67,  146 

Larson,  Elisha 145,  146 

Larson,  Emma 145 

Larson,  Even  D ....  144 


460 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Larson,  George  Marlon 68 

Larson,  Georgiana  Henrietta 68 

Larson,  Gilberts 144,  145 

Larson,  Gilbert  J 142 

Larson,  Ida 14  > 

Larson,  Ingebret  (Narvig) 141-14(5 

179-182,  220,  356,  367.  396,  430 

Larson,  Inger  Marie 67 

Larson,  Johan 194,  195 

Larson,  Lars  (Brimsoe) 151-154 

Larson,  Lars  (i  Jeilane) . .  45-47,  50,    55 

58,  59,  63-67,  83,   84,   91-93 

103.  128,  130,  131,  147 

155,  160,  367.  396.  430 

Larson,  Lars,  Mrs 93 

Larson,  Lydia  Glazier 67 

Larson,  Martha  Georgiana  ...  57,  66 
67,   130 

Larson,  Martha  Jane 68,  69,  85 

Larson,  Martin 85 

Larson,  Miss 69 

Larson,  Nils (Bolstad)  ...327,337,  341 
344,  :-47, 349, 851-354, 366,  431 

Larson,  Ole 274 

Larson,  Sara 4T,  92,  103 

LaSalle(Co)  82,    94,  96-110.  114 

129,  133,  135,  141,  149-156 
160,  161,  164,  168,  171-174 
177,  179,  180,  181,  133,  186 
187,  190,  192-195,  198,  199 
221-224,  230,  232,  237,  244 
251,  254,  334,  349,  350,  365 
390,  892,  899,  408,  410,  411 

Latter  Day  Saints 105,106,  177 

899-401,  428 

Latin  9,11,  320 

Lauman,  Mr 355 

Lawson,  Tver 285 

Lawson,  Ivor,  Mrs 227 

Lawson,  Victor  Fremont..  227,  285,  333 

Lee,  Auders  N 332 

Lee  (Co.) 103,    112,    149,   154 

185-188,  193,  254,  365,  368,  369,  391 
Lee,  Nels  A. . .  .327,  330-332,  325, 336,  350 

351 

Lagendre      . . .  13 

Lehi 402,  403,  408 

Liebolds,  Col 119 

Leidal,  Anfln  829,  330 

Leire 6 

Leland 237,  399 

Lenawee 219-221 

Lewaunee 144,  367 

Lewis,  Dollie 99 

Lewis,  Isabel  (Mrs.)  105 

Lib  by  (prison)  ... 122 

Libyan 4 

L;en,  Henrik 341 

Lien,  Ole  (Sr.) 34ti 

Lier 281 

Lier,  Lars  ... 340,  341 

Lier,  Ole 337 

Lillesand 374 


PAGE. 

Lilley,  Robert 69,    76 

Lima,  Simon 92,   101 

Lincoln,  Pros....  260,  289 

Lind,  Chas  84 

Lind,  Claudine 84 

Lind,  Ellen 84 

Lind,  Jenny 1,    14 

Linne,  Carl  von 10,    11 

Lisbon 113 

Lisett ..     57 

Liverpool —  216,  249 

Livingston  (Co.) ...99,   111 

Lockport 68 

Lohner,  Halvor  Nelson. 

(See  Nelson.) 

Lohner,  Kittle 275 

Loiten ' 382 

London 11,46,  07,   450 

London  (Wis.) 108 

Lonflok,  Halvor  (Vinlete)  ....399,   313 

Longfellow,  H.  W 447 

Long  Island 23 

Long  Island  Sound 70,     72 

Lockhart,  D.  M.  (Capt.) 363 

Los  Angeles 292 

Lossing,  Benson  John 32 

Louisiana ...42,  373,  3,6 

Lovenskjold,  Mr 234 

Lubeck < 158 

Ludvig,  Mr    263 

Lumholtz,  Carl 450 

Lund,  A.  C - 408 

Lund,  A  H.  (Apostle) 403 

Luraas  (family) . .  .268.  275,  198 

300,  366 

Luraas  (farm) 209 

Luraas,  Halvor  Ostenson. 

(See  Ostenson.) 
Luraas,  John  Nelson. 

(See  Nelson.) 

Luraas,  Knudt 30^ 

Luthe-an  190,212,225,228,279,  S87 

289, 298, 297, 299.303, 323. 3J4,  883 

380,381,388,395-398,401,409,  410 

414,41?,  117,419,420,423,4-25,  425 

442,  447 

Luther  College 333,  444 

Luther  Valley 252,  ^58 

Lydvo,  Knud 329 

Lydvo,  Nils 329 

Lydvo,  Ole .  329 


M. 

McClintock   and   Strong's  Cyclo 
pedia 446 

McCook  (Major  General) 118 

McFadden,  William  F 67 

Mackinac,  Str.  of 390 

M-vleira 58,71,     73 

Madison.. 156,161,164,215,293,   300 

316, 322, 328, 329, 35*,  439, 445-446 


INDEX. 


461 


PAGE. 

Madison  Democrat 444 

Madland,  Christina 100 

Madland,  Jens...  .  ^ 100 

Madland,  J.  O.  D 100 

Madland,  Julia  100,101,  105 

Madland,  Martha. 100 

Madland,  Rachel 100,  109 

Madland,  Serena 100,  128 

Madland,  Thomas . . ..92,93, 100, 103,  105 
109,  128 

Madsen,  Dr 8"i7 

Madvig,  J.  N (J 

MagnaCharta 5,  819 

Magnolia 376 

Maine 41 

Mallet,  Paul  Henri 83,    34 

Manchester 113,  253 

Mandal 26 

Manhattan  (isle)....    22 

Manti  Temple 405 

March,JohnH 72 

Markland 1'J 

Marquette 144,  146 

Marseilles 97,    98 

Marsett,  Canute  Peterson . 

(See  Peterson.) 

Marsett,  Peter  Cornelius 95 

Marshall 874 

Marshall  (Go.) 174 

Maryland 42 

Massachusetts 41 ,  199,  328,  844 

Matison,  Helge 309 

Matson,0.  B....   ..    3:38 

Mayflower 5,25,46,    56 

Mehus,  Peter  Asbjornson. 

(See  Asbjornson.) 

Melchizedek  (order  of) 399,  428 

Meiland,  Carrie  J 227 

Methodists 177,  212,  228,  398,  415 

417,  428 

Methodist  Episcopal 291 

Mexican  War 30 

Michigan.... 42,  61,  68,  88,  89,  105,  107 

142-144,  146,  174,  180,  219-221 

224,  265,  330,  367,  896 

Michigan  (Lake). ...  Ill,  203,  313,  868 

Midboen,  Erik  Gauteson. 

(See  Gauteson.) 
Midboen,  Gunder  Gauteson. 

(See  Gauteson.) 

Middle  point. 407,  410 

Mikado 89 

Mikkelson,  Lars  B 153 

Miller    150,  175,  195,  223 

Miller,  Major 114,  115,  117,  120 

122-124 

Milton  (poet) 4 

Milton  (town) 168,  838,  889,  842 

Milwaukee !«,  225,  227,  251,  260 

262,  871-874,   278,   290,   298,  294 

812,  818,  885.  948,  362,  863,   390 

434,  435,  439 

Mineral  Point. 255 


PAGE. 

Minneapolis 43 

Minnesota 42,  48,  89,  100, 112,  142 

144-146,    164.     202,    219,    221,  *22 

259,  275,   278,   300,    322,  332,  333 

343,  349,  409 

Mission 94.  95,  110,  111,  114,  129 

134,  185,  160,    171,    174,    175,  195 

221-223,  280,  410 

Mission  Ridge  (Battle  of; 123 

Mississippi 42,154,  185 

Missouri 42,67.103,  139,  148,  154 

185-189,    193,    214,    236,    283,  329 

367,  368,  411 

Mitchell  (Co.) 157 

Mitchell,  Inger,  Mrs 93,109,  127 

137,  177 

Mitchell,  John  8 94,  137 

Mitchell.  M.  B 137,  177 

Molee,  Anne 324 

Molee,  Elias  J 275,300,  324 

Molee,  Halvor 324 

Molee,  John  Evenson.    (See  Even- 
son.) 

Molin,  Peter 29 

Mollerflaten 309 

Monitor 20,25,  26 

Monroe  (Co.) 140,  220 

Monroe  Doctrine 325 

Montana. 42 

Montesquieu. 319 

Montevideo 164 

Montgomery 114 

Montgomery  (Co.) 152 

Morem.   Gunnul    Knutson.     (See 
Knutson.) 

Morgenbladet. .   372 

Mormons 95, 105, 152, 177,183.  232 

237,869,589,398-408,417,  428 

Mormonism 40? 

Morris,  Mrs 98 

luorse 10 

Morton,  John  25,  30 

Morter   149 

Mount  Enterprise 378 

Mount  Horeb 421 

Muller,  Max 9 

Munk,  Jens ..21,  22 

Murfreesboro 261 

Murfreesboro  (Battle  of) 112,  116 

118 

Murem'ester,  Halvor 345 

Murray 78 

MuskegO  ....225,  233,  251,  255,  262,  266 

274-277,    280-284,    290-300 

813,  815,  821,  322,   335,  360 

863,  36Q,  390,  411,  418,  419 

424,  426,  427,  438 

Muskego  (Lake) 273-276 

MuussB    J.,  Rev 902-805,216 

Myhre,  Gulbrand  Gulbrandaon 
(See  Gulbrandson). 

Myhrre,  Jens  Gulbranaoo ( 

Gulbranson) 


462 


INDEX. 


N. 

PAGE. 

Nacogdoches 374,  384 

Nserstrand 369 

Nses,  Borre 85 

Namsdaleidt 235 

Nansen,  Frithiof 13 

Nap -leon 46 

Napoleonic  Wars 45,  159 

Narveson,  Hakon    221 

Narvig,  Ingebret  Larson. .  (See 

Larson) 

JXaset,  JohnJ 141 

Nashville 261 

Nashville  pike 119 

Natohitoches ...873,  376 

Nattestad,  Ansten...  199,202,207,  215 

217, 238, 239, 241 , 248, 249,  253 

257,258,262,267-268,336,  344 

358,  430 

Nattestad,  Henry 249 

Nattestad,  Ole....  199, 200, 202, 21 5,  216 

237,238,247-255,263,266,  267 

344,365,430,  438 

Nauvoo 369,  400 

Nebra  ka 42,43,98 

Nelson,  Amelia 95 

Nelson,  Anders  (Brackke), . . .   ....  829 

Nelson,  Anna  (Solkeim) , 291 

Nelson,  Bergit  (Kalsud) 256 

Nelson,  Cornelius  (Hersdal). ...  91,  93 
101,127,129,130,140,175,182.  401 

Nelson,  Halvor 178 

Nelson,  Halvor  (Lohner) 298 

Nelson,  Herman  (Tufte) 295 

Nelson,  Ira 102 

Nelson,  John  (Luraas) ...  268,269,  276 
277,309,430 

Nelson,  John  (Rue) 232, 256 

Nelson,  John  W 29! 

Nelson,  Julia 288 

Nelson,  Knute 332 

Nelson,  Lars 178 

Nelson,  Malinda,  Mrs 228, 229 

Nelson,  Nels 86 

Nelson,  Nels  (Hersdal)  ....92,  94,   10i 
102,  128-130,  J50,  175 

Nelson,  Nels  (Skogen) 264 

Nelson,  Peter 109,  231 

Nelson,  Peter  0 95,     96 

Nelson,  Peter  (OvrabS) 230 

Nelson,  Susan ,.  40. 

Neuson,  Gunhild 30' 

Nevada 42 

New  Amsterdam 22,    23 

Newark 110,  112,113,  253 

Newburg 219,  221,  222 

New  England ,     51 

New  England  Historical  and  Gen- 

.    ealogical  Register 26 

New  Hampshire 41 

New  Jersey 33,     41 

New  Mexico 42,  146,  294 

New  Norway 68 


PAGE. 

New  Orleans *16,  349,867,  372 

374-376,  879,  392 

New  Port 256 

New  Siberian  Isles  .- ,    13 

IS  ews,  The  Chicago 335 

Newton , 8 

Newville 342 

New  World 17,  18,  86,  44,  56,  147 

New  York. . .  .32,  23,  38,  41 ,  43,  44,     54 

54,  55,  57,  60-82,  86,  93-103 

108-112,   129-133,  138,  141 

144,  148-156,  160,  163,  170 

171,  173,  175,  !76,  179,   184 

187,  189,  191-193,  196,  197 

229,  231,  244,  250.  251,  256 

857,  262,  264-268,  271,  276 

885,  286,  293,  294,  310,   312 

827,  330,  336,  349,  355 

361,362,364,367,  369 

390,  397,  424,  427 

New  York  American 72,  73 

New  York  Daily  Advertiser. ...  70,  72 

New  York  Gazette 70 

New  York  National  Advertiser..  .70,72 

Niagara  Falls 109,    113,  367    409 

Nichols,   Mrs 329 

Neilson,  S 374 

Nilson,  Sigri .   411 

Nilson,  Svein VIII 

Nilsson,  Svein,  Prof.  233,  238,  237,  269, 
280,  349. 

Nilsson,  Sven 8,  12 

Noble  CCo.) 109,  264,  265,  368 

Nolde,  Peter 29 

Nordboe    138,   187 

Nordboe,  Johan.  108,  138,  140,  355,  356 

369,  370,  386-388,  391,  392,  395 

430,  140,  189,  193,  383,  387,  391 

392 

Nordboe,  Mrs , 139 

Nordboe,  Peter 140 

Norden 43,  148,  149,  156,  268 

Nordenskjold,  N.  A.  E 12 

Nordlyset 225,293-295,  366 

Nordstokke 389 

Nordvig,  Anders 284 

Nordvig,  Magdalena 248 

Nordvig,  Malinda 285 

Nore 355 

Nore,  Thore 355 

Norman  Hill 388 

Normandy 5,6   319 

Normandy  (Texas) 375,  380,  384 

Normans 5 

Norse. ...  3,  31,  32, 196,  211, 444,  447,  448 

Norsemen 1,  3,  15-18,  32,  33,  312 

318,  448 

Norse  CP.O.) 191 

North  Cape...' 12,  362 

North  Cape  Literary  Society 289 

Northmen 1, 5*3,  33,  306,  445 

NortbSea  16 

Norvig,  Anders 197,  198,  227 


INDEX. 


463 


PAGE. 

Norvig,  Magdalena,  Mrs 227 

Norway  (111.) 96,  97,  106,  223 

228-230,  413,  417 

Norway  (Iowa) m,  151,  410 

Norway  (Minn.) 202 

Norway  (Wis.) 277-279 

Nova  Dania 25 

Nova  Scotia 18 

Nubbru,  Even 240 

Numedal. .      238,  250,  252,  255-260,  264 
266,  267,  336,  342,  344,  355,  35? 

Numedaliatis 253 

NyElfsborg 13J 

Nyhua-5,  Christopher 252,  86-j 

Nyhuus,  Kittel 252,  20;. 

Nyro,  Baard 331 


o. 

Oakland...  ,.  145 

Odin 18 

Oersted,  H.  C 9 

OEsterdalen 13!- 

GExnavar 100 

Ohio 42,  329 

Ohio  (river) 187 

Oklahoma ....    42 

Olmstead,  Benson  C 9-> 

Olmstead,  Chas.  B 93 

Olmstead  (Co.) 300 

Olmstead,  George 97 

Olsons 397 

Olson,  Ambj  or 25 

Olson,  Anna  (Berg) 277 

Olson,  Anna  (Vindeg) 33." 

Olson,  Berit  (Vindeg) 33  ; 

Olson,  Bertha '. 112,   111 

Olson,  Bertha  Karina 450 

Olson,  (Camp) 124 

Olson,  Charles  P Ill 

Olson,  Christian 133 

Olson,  Edward Ill 

Olson,  Ellen  (Rekve) 328 

Olson,  Gunnul  (Vindeg).  16  ,  326,  332, 
335-355,  366,  415,  430 

Olson,  Guro...., 107 

Olson,  Hans...     ..   178 

Olson,  Helleik  (Vindeg)..  837,  344,  340 
Olson,  Hulda,  Mrs.  93,  99,  128,  133,  176 

Olson,  Jacob  (Hetletvedt) 112 

O'son,  James  Webster 112 

Olson,  John Ill 

Olson,  Knud 153,  178 

Olson.Knud 882 

Olson,  Knud  (Eide)  .  B4,  65,  60,  62,  75 

171,  196,  197,  234,  229,  430 

Olson,  Knud  (Hetletvedt)....  110,  151 

Olson,  Knud  T 378 

Olson,  Knud  (Vindeg) 169 

Olson,  Kolbein  (Saue) ..328,  345 

Olson,  Lars  B 153,  178 


PAGE. 

Olson,  Lars  (Capt.).  56,  60,  64,  93,  100, 
109,  342 

Olson,  Lars  (Dugstad) . .  167,  170,  327 

329,    330,  343,  346,  347,  354,  366 

431 

Olson,  Lars  (Hetletvedt) 112 

Olson,  Malinda ill 

Olson,  Michael 178 

Olson,  Miss.  . .  69 

Olson,  Nels 151 

Olson,  Nils 187 

Olsoo,  O 394 

Olson,  Ole  (Heier)  236,  237,  400 

410,  428,  431 

Olson,  Ole  (Hetletvedt) .92,   103 

109-113,  148,  151,  367,  398 

40S-410,  431 

Olson,  Ole  (of  Knud  Het.)  ....  110,  111 

Olson,  Ole(Omdal) 237,  31)9,  400 

Olson,  OleT 151,  178 

Olson,  Peter  C Ill 

Olson,  Porter  C..  112-115,  120-127,  282 

Olson,  Rasmus 99,  128,  133 

Olson,  Sara 229 

Olson,  Sarah  Anne Ill 

Olson,  Serina ...........  151 

Olson,  Siri  (Sterid) Ill 

Olson,  Sophia  (Jr.)  Ill 

Olson,  Sophia  (of  Knud  Het.) Ill 

Olson,  Soren  L 112,   119 

Olson,  Soren  (of  Knud  Het.).. 110,   ill 

Olson,  Stark  (Saue) 328 

Olson,  Thorsfcein  (Bjaadland) 59 

92,  93,  106,  107,  167-170 

174,    175,   220,   326,  330 

342,    343,     346-348,  351 

868,  354,  306,  367,  431 

Omaha.... 43 

Ombli  (parish) 380 

Ombo ....  110 

Onidal,  Ole  Olson  (See  Olson) 

Ontario 70,72,  73 

'Ontario  (Lake) 77,  79,  101.  105 

Orbek,  Ouline  Jacobine 379 

Oregon 42,   146 

Orkneys 16 

Orland,  Arne 332 

Orleans  (Co.).  ..64,65,68,72,76-82,  104 

131, 17),  179, 265,   3(54 

Orsland,  Canute... 84, 85, 88, 89, 165,  266 

Orsland,  Hallock    265 

Orsland,  Harry  B 84,88,  265 

Orsland,  Inger,  Mrs ..     89 

Orsland,  Jane 265 

Orsland,  Oie 88,265,  206 

Orstad,  Thomas Ill,  412 

Oslo(church) 423 

Osmondson,  Endre  (Aaragerbo  . . 

410,  431 
Osmundson,  Qudmund  (Fister)     . 

133,  135 
Osmundson,  Herman  C  Aaragerbo) 

410,  431 


464 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Ostenson,  Halvor  (Luraas) 309 

Ostenson,  Torger  CLuraas) 309 

Ottawa 94,96,97,102,106,127,   137 

173-175, 190,230, 244, 888,390, 392,  438 

Otteson,  J.  A,  Rev..... 157 

O  vergaarden 235 

Overhalden 235 

Overveien 361 

OvrabS,  Peter  Nelson . .  (See 

Nelson). 
Ozaukeo  (Co.) 290 


P. 


Pacific 12 

Paoli,  Gerhard  O 357 

Parker,  Eliza 85 

Patriol  (Abany)  76 

Patterson ,  Martha  Jane 68 

Patterson,  Elias  C 68 

Patterson,  Mrs &= 

Paulsbo     417 

Peabody  institute , .  447 

Pecatonica  (river) 255 

Pedersdatter,  Marie    Ib3 

Pedersdatter,  Sigrid  (Valle) 260 

Pederson,  Halvor  (Haugen) 262 

Pederson,  Jens  (Vehus) 314,  355 

Pederson,  Jorgen 809,  410,  431 

Peerson,  Catherine,  Mrs    181,  184 

Peerson,  Charletta  Marie 183 

Peerson,  Kleng..54,  55,  60,  62,  75,  83 
86,  93,  103,  107,  127,  129 
138, 140-142,  148,  154 
160,  171-176,  179-196 
203,  219,  222.230.  3:29 
858,  364,365,  367,  369 
383,  386,  387-394,  430 

Peerson,  Martha  Georgiana 47 

Peerson,  Ole 394 

Peerson,  Samuel 229,  230 

Penn,  William 57,  217 

Pennsylvania 25.42,  174,  197 

363,  367 

Pennsylvania  (vol.) 868,  364 

Perry 235 

Persian 32 

Petersburg  (Battle  of) 363 

Peterson,  Bishop 403 

Peterson,  Sarah  A.,  Mrs 96,  182 

401,  406,  407 

Peterson,  Canute 401 

Peterson,  Charles ...     29 

Peterson,  Knud 401,  410,  431 

Peterson ,  Canute  (Marsett) ....  94,    95 

182,    184 

Philadelphia....  24,  29,  88,  48,  363,  367 

Pikes  Peak 260 

Pilgrim  (fathers) 818 

Pine  Lake 858,  359,  878,  415 

Pioneer      History     of      Orleans 
County,  New  York 


PAGE. 

Pitzers ^4 

Pleasant  Springs. 426 

Plymouth  (Mass.)  20,    51 

Plymouth   (111) 253 

Poland    137 

Porsgrund , 423 

Porter  142 

Poulson,  P 394 

Prairieville 371,  378-380,  385 

Presbyterian.... 212,  398,  4-<» 

Preus,  A.  C.,  Rev..    ..225,  389,  428,  444 

Preus,  Mrs 225 

Primrose ,....260,  263,  264,  415 

Protestant 212,  319,323 

Protocol  .     . .  425 

Puritans 82,  45,  50,  217 

Q. 

Quadland,  Anders  Enochson  (See 

Enochson). 

Quaker. . .  46,  51,  55,  56,  63,  64,  67,  88 

100,    104,  141-143,  155,  156,    159 

160,  172,  177,  179,  191,  192,  212 

217,  220,  310,  396,  398,  428 

Quakerism 47 

Guam,  J.  A 96,176,  177 

Qvastad,  Carl 394 

K. 

Ractne...  ...289,  ?95 

Racine  (Co)....  201,  225,  226,  255,  2J2 

266,  276,  277,  280,    282,  284,  285 
283,  291,  292,  294,  366,  421,   48 

Ranger 26,  27 

Ransom 100 

Rasch,  Carl  Johan 444 

Rask,  Rasmus 9 

Rasmuson,  Martha  F 418 

Raymond  (township) 285-287 

Readers 48,  397,  400,  401 

Record,  The  Chicago  . . . .  r . .  333 

Rector  (St.) £2 

Red  (river) 375 

Reisrson,  Carl 375,  *77 

Reierson,  Christian... 874,  375,  379,382 

Reierson,  Gerhard 374 

Reierson,  Gena 874,  375,  378 

Reierson,  Henrietta 375,  376 

Reierson,  Henrietta  Walter,  Mrs    371 

Reierson,  Johan  Reinert VIII,  193 

255,  298,  299,  859,  869-380,  395 
415,  431 

Reiersen,  John 375,  379 

Reierson,  Ole 187,  874 

Reierson,  Oscar.  375,  3;9 

Reiersons 139,  372,   378 

Rekve,  Ellen  Olson.    (See  Olson.) 

RennesS .'06 

Reque,  S.  S.,  Rev    ....164,333 


INDEX. 


465 


PAGE. 

Restaurationen 30,  45 ,  51 ,  53 ,     56 

6i,  64,  67,  69,  70,  72,  79,  127,  240 
244,  267 

Reuiersville 373 

Revolutionary  War 26 

Reymert,  James  D . . .  .226,  293,  294,  316 

Reyraerts  (Lake) 316 

Reymert's  (saw -mill) 316 

Riehey,  Cora  A 98 

Kichey,  Sara  T.,  Mrs.     93,  98,  101,  127 

Riehey,  Will  F 98 

Rich.-y,  Wui.  W 97 

Rdley 25 

Riggs  (Corporal) 119 

Ringebo 138,  35'» 

Ringnrs.  Jens 394 

Ringsaker 203,  355 

Rtskedal 178 

Riverside  388 

Rhen '<  4 

Rhode  Island 41,  256 

Rochambeau,  Gen 30 

Rochester..  .61,  65-69,  73,  87,  88,  96 
101,  103,  104,  108,  111,  151 
160,  163,  164,  171,  17.*,  229 
244,  327,  349,  355,  367,  396 

Rock  (Co.) 169,  237,  238,  248,  253 

254,  260-264,  365,  438 

Rock  Dell 300 

Rockford 168,  342 

Rock  Prairie 252-259,  262,  365 

366,  415,  438 

Rock  (river)    168,  259,337,  340 

342,  345 

Rock  Run 251,  254,  255,  365,  366 

Rocky  (mountains) 1S3,  184 

Rokne,  Kaud 331 

Rolf  son ,  Rolf  (Flaten) 274 

Rolloug  (parish) 238,242,  336 

Romau 3,  24-36.  318 

Roman    35 

Romer,Ole JO 

Romish  ...  5 

Ronve,  B 331 

Rosaaen,  Torkel 221 

Rosadals 396 

Rosdal,  Bertha 9.S 

Rosdal,  Caroline 98,  99 

Rosdal,  Ellen 98,  99 

Rosdal.  Hulda 98.  fli-t 

Rosdal,  John 98,  99 

Rosdal,  Lars  !8 

Rosdal,  Ove 98,  9<> 

Rosecrans.  Gen 120 

Rosoino,  Peder bo,» 

Rossaland,  Mr 198 

Rossaland,  Amund  Anderson  (See 
Anderson) 

Rossaland,  Anna 166,  344 

Rossaland,  Anders    197 

Rossaland,  Elling  166,  344 

Rossaland,  Endre 166 ,  843,  345 

Rossedal,  Daniel  Stinson  (See 

Stenson) 

30 


PAGE. 

Rothe,  Lars 333 

Rothe,  Nels 151,  327,  331,  430 

Roth*,  Thorbjor 151,  327 

Rotterdam     .     333 

Rue,  John  Nelson.. (See  Nelson). 

Rush  (Co.) 378 

Russia    2,  5,  20,  24,  45,   137 

Russian ...4,  159,  312,  447 

Rutland  160,   175,  177,  195,  224 

Rydberg,  Victor,  Dr 14,  450 

Ryfylke 134,219 

hynning,  Jens 203 

Rynning,  Ole  ...VIII,  161,  198-208-211 

215,  216,  218,  236 

245-247,  250,  267,  284 

295,  331,  357-359,   367 

868,  430 


S. 


Saetersdalians  879 

Saetersdal 379,  421 

Saevig,  Erik  Johnson. .  (See 

Johnson). 

St.  Ansgar    ....257.  258 

St.  Joseph 330 

St.  Louis 43,   399 

St.  Paul .43 


Saints 75 

Saint  Syr,  Mrs 416 

Salt  LakeOity 95,  108,  152,  401-4<i3 

Salt  Lake  Tribune 406 

Salt  Lake  (Valley) lfc'4 

Samnanger 148.  197,  224,  225 

San  Augustine 373 

Sandeid. 43,  15  -15.-< 

-^uuderson,  Ellen  (Bakke) 184 

Sanderson,  Eystein  (Bakke) 184 

.oandfserdig  Be  reining  om  Ameri- 
ka  til  Oplysning  og  Njtte,  lor 
Bonde  og  iVieingmand  f  orfattet 
af  ijn  norsk,  som  kom  derovur  i 

Juni  "\iaaned  1837 202 

S-Hn  Diego 101,103,128 

Sandsoerg 135 

San  si  erg.  Andreas 135,  137 

Sandsiierg,  Anna 134 

tviudsberg.  B-rtha 134 

Sandsberg,  Gudman.  133-135,137,  146, 

147,  177,  430. 

Sandsberg,  Osmond  Anderson(See 
Anderson). 

Sandsberg,  Torbor 134 

Sandsgaard     .- :  .  134 

Sand \vich 227 

San  Francisco  43,  145,  225 

San  Houston  37C 

Sanpete 403,405 

^autf.  culleik 33J 

Saue,  Kolbein  Olson  (See  Olson). 

Saue,  Lars 3*1 

Saue,  Stark  Olson  (See  Olson). 


466 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Saue,  Torsteln 331 

Sauk  Centre 100 

Baukville  294 

Saxo 6 

Saxo,  Grammatocus 3 

Saxon 83 

Saxon  English 301 

Scandinavia 2,  218,  326,  404 

447,   449 

Scandinavians 1-7,  14-22,  30-34 

37-44,  91,  282,  811,   318,  319,  324 

325,  383,  402,    403,    405,   408,  442 

443,  445,  449 

Scheele,  C.  W 10,  11 

Scheie,  Anna 344 

Scheie,  Gayri 344 

Scheie,  Lars 166,  167,343-344 

Schjotte,  Theodore    357 

Schulstead,  Caroline 85,    88 

Schweigaard,  A.  M 53 

Scofleld,  Gen 124 

Scotch  36,  29? 

Scotland    293 

Scott,  Gen 30 

Sebbe,  Anna  Hendrickson. 

(See  Hendrickson.) 
Sebbe,  Henrik  Erikson. 

(See  Erikson.) 

Sebby,  J.  O 176 

Seland 6 

Serapis 27,    28 

Shabona  Grove 168,  342 

Shakespere 6,     32 

Sheboygan 416 

Shelby  (Co  )  ....103,  139,  185-189,   193 
236,339,  367 

Sherborne,  John  Henry 29 

Sheridan..  60,  94,  96,  99,  106,  128,  129 
141,  151,  173,  177,  223 

Sberidan,  Gen.. 118-120 

Sherman,  George  D.  (Major) ..  122,  12  •! 

Shreveport 374,  376-378,  392 

Shulstead,  Cluus 88 

Sibley,  Henry 178 

Sigdal 240 

Sigard,  The  Volsung 31 

Sill,  Gen 114,  116,  117 

Silver  (Lake) 316 

Simonson,  Andrew 186,  369 

Sinding 14 

Siverson,  Nels  (Gilderhus) 327 

329-335,  346-354,  266,  430 

Skaar,  Kleng 410,  431 

Skandinaven 226,  333 

Skandinaviens  Stjerne 405 

Skavlein,  Erik  Guldbranson. 

(See  Guldbranson.) 

Skien 231,  233.  251,  268,  270,  271 

358,  416 

Skjold  (District)..  .54,  81,  93, 130,  147 
148,  150,  151,  179,  227 

Skofstads 262 

Skofstad.  Johannes 278 


PA01. 

Skogen,  Nels  Nelson. 

(See  Nelson.) 

Slesvigian 874 

Slogvig,  Jacob  Anderson. 

(See  Anderson.) 

Slogvig,  Knud  Anderson.    (See 
Anderson.) 

Smaalenene    48 

Smith,  H.  (Capt.) 424 

Smith,  John  G .837,345,414-416 

Smith,  Lydia  E 144 

Smith,  William 144 

Snaasen 203 

Snorre  Sturlason. 14,  19 

Society,  Royal 11 

Sogn     221,  2'J3 

Solheim,  Anna  Nelson.    (See  Nel 
son.) 

Somerset  (Co.) 174 

Sonve,  Mads 831 

So  rensen,  Bishop 255 

Sorensen,  S 41 

Sorenson,  P 428 

South  Africa 418 

Southern  Rebellion 80 

Spain 4 

Spencers. 

Spencer's  Business  College 289 

Spitzbergen 14 

Spofford.  Geo.,  Mrs 292 

Spring  Grove 164,221,  333 

Spring  Prairie 329 

Spring  Valley 285 

Stauek,  Klemet 255,259,  366 

Stabell,  Adolph 371 

Stafford,  Miss 29 

Stangeland,  Andrew  J  .   ..85-87,  90 

92,  108,  109,  265 

Stangeland,  Elias 275,  316 

Stangland,  Gurioa,  Mrs 316 

Stark,   N.  O    .  828 

Starn,  Dr 374,  375 

Stavangnr....  43-45,  47,  49,  52-61,  66 

79,  89,  93,  96,  100,  102,  103,  106 

109-111,  127,  130,  133-136,  141 

143,  147-152,  155-159,  164,  166 

171,  178,  179,  187,  188,  191,  192 

195,  196,  219,  222,  224,  229,  232 

239-245,  267,  268,  270,  306,  209 

310,  369,  389,  390,  409,  421,  427 

Stavanger  (Cape) 71,  73 

Stavangerings 138,  140,  348 

Steen,  Severine  Cathrine 203 

Stene,  Johannes 92,  96 

Stensou,  Daniel  (Rossedal)  . . .  92,  93 

98,  100,  128,  133 

Stenson,  Niels 8 

Stephenson  (Co.) 251,  254 

Stettin 427 

Stockholm ..  414 

S.-x>ne  River  (Battle  of) 114,  121 

Storthing 240,241,  358 

Stoughton 269,  277,  442 


INDEX. 


467 


PAGE. 

Strand 152,  227,  228,  412 

Straumfjord 19 

Sugar  Creek . .  .112, 185, 188, 236, 355,  369 

SumterFort 25 

Sunde,  Gjermund  Knudson  (See 

Knudson) 

Sunve  (farm) 411 

Svendsen 14 

Svimbil.  Thor   Kittelsou     See 

Kittelson 

Svinalie,  Erik 309 

Swede 8,10,20,25,26,30,41-43,     45 

159.303, 310, 312,337, 345, 414-416,  424 
Sweden 1,2,5,8,10,12,29,30,38-40 

46.54,63,132,134,158,159,213,  261 
262,303,309,310,312,324,405,411,  417 

Swedenborg 14 

Swedish....  1,5, 6, 24, 25, 68, 132, 154,  181 
183, 1HJ«,  244, 310, 358, 416, 427,  450 

Swedish  Norwegian  Consul 362 

Swenson,  B.E 394 

Switzerland .51,  224 

Syriac 429 


T. 


Taine,  H.  A 31,    32 

Tallakson,  Lars...  153, 154, 181, 367,  368 

Tananger 243 

Tarrant(Co.) 140 

Tarvestad 389 

Tastad,  Elias 47,50,155,   192 

TazewellCCo) 174 

Tegner,  Bishop 14,  44S 

Tennessee  42,112,114,124,  261 

Tesman,  Han< 187,  369 

Tesman,  Peter 18  . 

Tesman,  William 187,  309 

Teutonic 2,3, 

Texan  Consul 

Texas      VII,  42, 44, 138-141, 188-193,  298 
369-375,37^-395,411,   432 

Thelemarken  107,231-2:34,237,  238 

250,251,256,266,268,275,   276 

290, 291, 298,334, 358, 359,  366 

370,399,  400 

Thelemarkian 233 

Thomas,  Arad 64,82,    83 

Thomas,  W    W.  (Jr.) 25 

Thomason,  Ann IE 

Thomason,  Osmund 150,  178 

Thompson,  Abraham 9" 

Thompson,  Anna  Maria. ..   ..  .... 

Thompson,  Bertha  Caroline ....%, 

Thompson,  Caroline 96,98, 


374 


97 

9< 

224 


Thompson,  Ole  (Eie)  .........  17b,  19b 

Thompson,  Ole    (ThorbiSrnson 

Eide)  ............  60-63,224,  229 


PAGE. 

Thompson,  Oyen  (Thorson)..  ..92,    93 
96,  108,  127 

Thompson,  Sara 97 

Thompson,  Serena 97 

Thompson,  Thomas  A...  ....227,  228 

Thomson,  Christian 8 

Thor 18 

ThorbjGrnson  Eide,    Ole  Thomp 
son  (see  Thompson;. 

Thore  Petre 427 

Tftorfln  Karlsefne 18,     19 

Thorfinson,  Snorre 14 

Thorkelin,  G.  J  6 

Thorson,  Oyen  (see  Thompson). 

Thorsteinson,  Ole 107 

Thorvald 18 

Thorwaldsen,  Albert 14 

Thordson,  Thomas 275 

Tideride  (Minneapolis). 41 

Tillotson,  Thove    178 

Tin  (parish) 231,  233,  237,  242,  251 

266,  268,  274-276,  301,  309 
310,  317,  366,  399 

Tippecanoe  (river) 368 

Tollef siord,  John 310 

Tollefsjord,  Nils 310 

Tollefsjord,  Ole 310 

Tollef  son,  Anna,  Mrs 166 

Tollefson,  Gunnuf 264,420,  422 

Tollefson,  Ole 264 

Tollefson,  Tonnes 166,  167,  344 

Tollefson,  T.  M 258 

Tommerstigen,  Anders  Johanne- 

son  (See  Johanneson.) 

Tonsberg 264 

Torgerson,  Betsy 178 

Torgerson,  Carl 283 

Torgerson,  Ole    .    293 

Torgerson,  T.  A,,  Rev 157,  164 

Toronto 14^   363 

Torrison,  Halstein  ...  194,  195,  365,  430 

TosseJand,  Mr 198 

Treatise  on  the  Blow  Pipe    11 

Tricolo 861,   362 

Trinity  (church) 22 

Trinity  (river) 381,  392 

Trondhjem 203,  235,  236,  392 

Trovatten,  Ole  Znudson. 

(See  Knudson.) 
Tufte,  Herman  Nelson. 

(See  Nelson.) 

Turks 241 

Tuttle,  Osmund Ill 

Tvede,  C 382 

Tvede,  Miss 384 

Tvt-destrand 371 

Tveito,  Hans 275,  316,  321 

Tveito,  Oslaug,  Mrs 316 

Tvedt,  John 28.°. 

Tyler 142,  145 

Tysland,  Knud...     368 

Tysoen  (Parish.)  64,  65,  57,  S3,  94,  98 
101-103,    127-129,  141,  150,    171 
179,  196,  219 


468 


INDEX. 


U. 


PAGE. 
.  53 
.  17 


Ireland,  Ole  Gabriel 

Ulfson,  Gunnbjorn 

Union  Rei b» 

United  States.  18,  20,  32,  33,  38,  41,  45 
50,  69,  115,  167,  212,  213,  261 
287,  294,  300,  311,  320,  321,  325 
333,  351,  360,  431,  438,  442,  448 

United  States  Naval  Asylum 29 

United  States  Navy. ..  .25,  29,  319,  363 

University  of  Wisconsin 26,  445 

Unonius,  G. 358,  373,  414-416 

Upsala 417 

Uranienborg 7 

Utah 42,  43,  95,  108,  152,  182-184 

400-402,  405,  406,  408 
Utah  Constitutional  Convention..  406 

Utah  (Co.) ...    408 

Utica 857,  420 


V. 


Vgegli 

Vgelde  (farm) ".".     ..' '219 

Vselde,  Hans  (See  Valder). 

Vsete,  Halle    828 

Valder,  Hans 61,62,  197 

219-222,  229,  230,  408,  43 1 

Valem Ill 

Valle,   C.  Danielson. 

(See  Danielson.) 

Valle  (farm) 281 

Valle,  Sigrid  Pedersdatter. 

(SeePedersdatter.) 

VanZandt.. 882 

VanZandt(Co) 382 

Vandal 356 

Vatname,  Helge 229,  230 

Vats  (parish) 61,  219 

Vega 12 

Vehus.  Andrew 341 

Venus,  Jens  P (See  Pederson.) 

Veiviseren  (The  Pathfinder) ....      299 
359,  37:3 

Vermont • 41 

Vernoa 275 

Vespucci,  Amerigo     -     17 

Veste,   Nils 199,  200 

Veste,  Thorbjorn 197,  198 

Vestre,  Moland 370,  384 

Vig,  Ole 53 

Vigedal 43,  155,  159 

Vigfusson,  Gudbrand 1,     14 

Viking  ..  1,  2,  4,  5,  15,  24,  33,  146,  SOI 

Vikings,  Norse.... 16 

Villisca 152 

Vincent,  Charles 378 

Vindep,  Anna  Olson.    (See  Olson.) 
Vindeg,  Bernt  Olson.    (See  Olson.) 


PAQK. 

Vindeg,  Gunnud  Olson.    (See 

Olson  ) 
Vindeg,  Helleik  Olson.    (See 

Olson.) 
Vindeg.  Knud  Olson.   (See  Olson.) 

Vine,  Carena,  Mrs 142,  148 

Vinland 14, 16, 18, 38,    83 

Vineland,  The  Good 211 

Vinlete,  Halvor  Lonflok.    (See 

Lonflok.) 

Virginia 42 

Virginia,  West •.  42 

Voss . .  .151, 170, 253,291 ,327-334,359,  411 

Vossings 253 , 327, 330-333, 335,  341 

347,348  351,  353 


w. 


Waco 

Wserenskjold,  Mr 372,381,383,  884 

Weerenskiold,  Elise,  Mrs 139,  140 

372,379-386,  431 

Weerenskjold,  Nils 385 

Wgcrenskjold,  Otto 385 

Wgerenskiold,  Wilhelm 381,  384 

Waerenskjolds .' 139 

Walker,  Mr 273 

Walker's  Point.  273 

Washburn  (camp) 261 

Washington 29,42,43,  417 

Washing-ton  (brig) 423 

Washington  (D.  U.)..  251,252,388,  449 

Washington,  Gen 28,     30 

Washington  (Texas) 373 

Watkins,  Lieut 118 

Waukesha  316 

Waukesha  (Co.).  ..266,273,274,316,  366 

Waukesha  (Co.) ,  History  of  275 

Webs'er(Co.) 277 

Webster's  (Unabridged) 12} 

Ween,  Ole 39-1 

Wells(St.)    194 

Wergeland... 14,     52 

Westbo ..   158 

West  (church) 426 

Westergaard,  Capt  ... 389 

Western  Springs...  67   68,  128 

White  (Co.) 368 

White  Father 404 

Whitewater 344 

White  Willow 343 

Whitney,  W.  D 9 

Whittelsny,  F.  C 67 

Wilcox,  P.  P.,  Mrs 292 

Wilkinson  (pike) 116,  118 

Willerup,  Minister. 165 

Willets,  Alfred 68 

Williamson,  Canute 178 

Williamson  (Capt.) 43 

Wind  (Lake) 278,419 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Winneshiek  (Co.) 232,  291,  292 

Wiota 264 

Wisconsin.... 42,  43,  59,  65,  79,  89,  107 
108,  113,  142,  144,  146,  149 
156,  157,  161,  162, 164, 166-169 
201,  214,  215,  222,  225 
226.  260,  206,  209,  271-274,  276 
278-283,  280,  287,  289,  291-295 
300,  307,  308,  312,  313,  316 
317,  322,  320-330,  333,  338 
343,  344.  349,  350,  352,  857-359 
365,  366,  372,  390,  409 
411,  415,  417,  419,  421,  426 
433,  437,  438,  444,  450 
Wisconsin  Constitutional  Conven 

tion 294 

Wisconsin  (river) 345 

Wisconsin  (vol) 08,  113,  260,  282 

283,  316 

Worth  (Co) 157,  164 

tVyomiag 42,  149 


X. 


PAGE. 

.     77 


Y. 


Yarnell  (Sergeant) 

Yellow  Medicine  (Co.). 

Ygre,  Lars 

Yorktown 

YorkviJle  

Young,  Brigham 


....  125 
259 

....  329 

30 

.313.  421 

.404,  4U5 


Zimmer,  Mr.~ ..... 


CORRECTIONS. 


Page      2 -The  population  of  Denmark  in  1891  was  2,170,000. 

Page    19 — 450  years,  should  be  350  years. 

Page    25— Vogel  Grip,  should  be  Fog-el  Grip. 

Page    30— Alex  Fersen,  should  be  Axel  Fersen. 

Page    57 — Lisett,  should  be  the  Lizzard. 

Page    94— Mrs.  John  S.  Michell  died  March  12,  1896. 

Page  101 — Mrs.  Serena  Anderson  died  in  January  1898. 

Page  166— Tonnes  Tollefson  died  in  1888,  his  wife  in  1893. 

Page  169— Knud  Vindeg,  should  be  Helleik  Vindeg. 

Page  249 — Ole  Nattestad  married  Oliva  Hoiseth. 

Page  256— Halsten  Halvorson  came  from  Numedal  in  com 
pany  with  the  Nattestads. 

Page  258 — Kjimhus,  should  be  Kjinhus. 

Page  275  -  John  Jacobson  Einong,  should  be  John  Johnson 
Einong.  His  son  John  J.  Einong  lived  in  Fill- 
more  County,  Minn. 

Page  279 — The  church  was  begun  in  1844. 

Page  291 — John  W.  Nelson,  should  be  John  W.  Johnson. 


470  CORRECTIONS. 

Page  292 — Johannes  Kvale  frem  near  Carmoen,  Norway 
Erik  Anderson,  half  Vossing  and  half  Valders; 
Ole  and  Staale  Thorsteinson  (Hagebustinger); 
Ole  and  Andres  Lomen  from  Valders;  Halvor 
Haga  from  Valders,  and  John  and  Nels  Brak- 
stad  from  Voss  came  to  Winnesheik  County. 
Iowa,  in  June  1849. 

Nelson  Johnson  and  his  brother  Gjermund, 
Aslak  Aae,  Tollef  Aae,  Jocob  Abrahamson 
(father  of  Hon.  Abraham  Jacobson),  Iver  Pe 
terson  Kvale,  John  and  Jorgen  Thune  came 
there  in  July  1847. 

At  that  time,  what  is  now  Decoroh  had  only 
two  residents  viz.  Wm.  Day  and  Wm.  Painter. 
During  the  winter  1850-51  Abraham  Jacobson 
worked  for  Mr.  Painter  and  so  became  the  first 
Norwegian  resident  of  that  city,  which  ha« 
since  become  so  prominent  among  the  Nor 
wegians. 

Page  293— The  first  man  to  set  type  on  "Nordlyset"  was 
Erik  Anderson  Rude. 

Page  294— Reymert  died  in  Alhambra,  Cal.,  March  25,  1896. 

Page  309  -  Halvor,  in  8th  line  from  bottom,  should  be  Halvo*- 
Tovson  Lyngflaat. 

Page  422— Add  this  note:  The  girl  was  Mrs.  Rufus  God 
dard,  now  of  Adamsville.  Quebec,  Canada.  Her 
sister  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Kvam,  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  Edwards,  who  lives  at  Ashland, 
Wis.  The  girl  was  not  taken  from  Jefferson 
Prairie,  but  from  the  Fox  River  Settlement  in 
La  Salle  County,  Illinois. 


A  PARTIAL  ANDERSON    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


REPRINTED  PROM  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  WISCONSIN  AUTHORS 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  WISCONSIN  STATE  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY. 

Natur-Videnskabernes  Forhold  til  Religionen.  En 
Forelasning  af  P.  A.  Chadbourne,  LL.  D.,  tidligere  Pro 
fessor  i  Naturhistorie  ved  Williams  College  og  Pro 
fessor  i  Naturhistorie  og  Chemi  ved  Bowdoin  College. 
nu  President  for  Universitetet  i  Wisconsin.  Oversat 
af  R.  B.  Anderson.  Madison,  Wis.:  Trykt  i  H.  W. 
Suckow's  Bog-og  Accidents  Trykkeri,  1869.  16p.  O. 

The  Scandinavian  languages;  their  historical,  linguistic, 
literary,  and  scientific  value.  Elucidated  by  quota 
tions  from  eminent  American,  English,  German,  and 
French  scholars.  Notices  of  these  languages  by  H.  W. 
Longfellow,  George  P.  Marsh,  Samuel  Laing,  Robert 
Buchanan,  Schlegel,  Mallet,  and  others.  Madison,  Wis.: 
Democrat  Company  Printing  Office,  1873.  16p.  O. 

Den  Norske  Maalsag.  Han  Per  og  ho  Bergit.  Chicago: 
Skandinavens  Forlag,  1874.  99p.  S. 

Tro  og  Fornuft.  Tale  af  Dr.  John  Bascom,  holdt  i  As 
sembly  Chamber  i  Madison,  Wis.,  til  de  examinerede 
Kandidater  af  Wisconsin  Universitet  SOndag  Efter- 
middag  den  13de  Juni,  1875.  Oversat  af  R.  B.  Ander 
son.  Chicago,  1875.  15p.  O. 

Tale  ved  Femti-Aarsfestep  for  den  Norske  Udvandring 
til  Amerika  Holdt  i  Chicago  den  5te  Juli,  1875.  Chi 
cago:  Trykt  i  Skandinavens  Bog  og  Akcidents  tryk- 
keri,  1875.  27p.  O. 

Norse  mythology,  or  the  religion  of  our  forefathers,  con 
taining  all  the  myths  of  the  Eddas,  systematized  and 


472  ANDERSON   BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

interpreted,  with  an  introduction,  vocabulary,  and 
index.  2d  edition.  Chicago:  S.  C.  Griggs&  Co.;  Lon 
don:  Triibner  &  Co.,  1876.  473p.  O.  5th  edition, 
1890*.  Price 82.50 

From  Prof.  F.  Max  Muller,  University  of  Oxford:  "I  like  it  de 
cidedly  and  shall  gladly  avail  myself  of  its  help  and  guidance." 

Hand- book  for  charcoal  burners,  by  G.  Svedelius. 
Translated  from  the  Swedish  by  R.  B.  Anderson,  A.  M., 
Professor  of  Scandinavian  languages  in  the  Univer 
sity  of  Wisconsin.  Edited  with  notes  by  W.  J.  L. 
Nicodemus,  Professor  of  civil  engineering  in  the  Uni 
versity  of  Wisconsin.  With  twenty-three  wood  en- 
graviugs.  New  York:  John  Wiley  &  Son,  1875.  xv-f- 
217p.  D. 

Viking  tales  of  the  north.  The  sagas  of  Thorstein,  Vik 
ing's  son  and  Fridthjof  the  Bold,  translated  from  the 
Icelandic  by  R.  B.  Anderson.  AisoTegner's  Fridth- 
jof's  saga,  translated  into  English  bv  George  Stephens. 
Chicago:  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  1877.  xviii-f370p.  D. 
3d  edition,  1889.*  Price 1 $2.00 

From  The  Nation,  New  York:— Prof.  Anderson's  book  is  a  very 
valuable  and  important  one.  The  "Saga  of  Thorstein,  Viking's 
Son,"  tenns  with  magnificently  dramatic  situations,  the  impres- 
siveness  of  which  are  rather  increased  by  the  calm  directness  and 
dignity  with  which  the*  are  related.  And  these  features  are  as 
characteristic  of  the  English  version  as  of  the  Icelandic  originals. 

America  not  discovered  by  Columbus.  An  historical 
sketch  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Norsemen 
in  the  tenth  century,  with  an  appendix  on  the  histor 
ical,  linguistic,  literary,  and  scientific  value  of  the 
Scandinavian  languages.  Also  a  bibliography  of  the 
pre-Columbian  discoveries  of  America,  by  Paul  Bar- 
ron  Watson.  Chicago:  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.;  London: 
Triibner  &  Co.,  1877.  120p  D.  4ih  edition.  1891* 
Price $1  00 

Inmemoriam.  Prof.  Stephen  Haskins  Carr  enter,  LL.  D. 
Address  before  the  State  historical  society,  Decem 
ber  17,  1878.  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  v.  8, 
pp.  86-95. 

Amerika  ikke  opdaget  af  Columbus.  En  historisk  skil- 
dring  af  Nordmsendenes  Opdagelse  af  Amerika  idet 
lOde  Aarhundrede.  Med  et  Anhang  om  de  nordiske 
Sprogs  historiske,  sproglige,  literaere  og  videnskabelige 
Vserd.  Oversat  fra  engelsk  efter  den  anden  forbe- 
drede  og  forogede  Udgave  af  C.  Chrest.  Portrait. 
Chicago:  "  Skandinavens  "  "Bogtrykkeri,  1878.  125p. 


ANDERSON    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  473 

The  influence  of  reading  upon  health.  Third  Annual 
Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  1878,  pp.  71-78. 

Finland  and  the  Kalevala.  Wisconsin  Journal  of  Edu 
cation,  v.  8, 1878,  pp.  285-290. 

Teutonic  mythology.  The  American  Antiquarian,  v.  2, 
1879-80,  pp.  271-275. 

The  Younger  Edda;  also  called  Snorre's  Edda,  or  the 
Prose  Edda.  An  English  version  of  the  Foreword; 
the  fooling  of  Gylfe,  the  Afterword;  Brage's  Talk,  the 
Afterword  to  Brage's  Talk,  and  the  important  passages 
in  the  poetical  diction  (Skalkskaparmal),  with  an  in 
troduction,  notes,  vocabulary,  and  index.  Chicago: 
S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.;  London:  Trtibner  &  Co.,  1880. 
302p.  O.  Price §2.00 

From  The  Scotchman,  Edinburgh,  Scotland:— Students  of  the 
Scandinavian  Mythology  will  acknowledge  that  Prof.  Anderson 
has  given  them  ttie  most  complete  and  literally  faithful  Eng 
lish  version  yet  produced  of  Snorre's  Edda.  He  furnishes  some 
scholarly  notes  and  a  vocabulary. 

Biographical  sketch  of  Lyman  C.  Draper,  LL».  D.,  secre 
tary  of  the  State  historical  society  of  Wisconsin. 
Portrait.  Cincinnati:  Peter  G.  Thompson,  1881. 
31p.  Q. 

Synnove  Solbakken.  By  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson.  Trans 
lated  from  the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B.  Anderson.  Por 
trait.  Boston:  Houghton.  Mifflin  &  Co.  1881. 
197p.  D. 

Magnhild.    By  Bjdrnstjerne  Bjornson.    Translated  from 
the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B.  Anderson.    Boston:  Hough 
ton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  1883.    223p.    D. 

The  fisher  maiden.  By  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson.  Trans 
lated  from  the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B.  Anderson.  Bos 
ton:  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1883,  274p.  D. 

Captain  Mansana,  and  other  stories.  By  1  jOrnstjerne 
Bjornson.  Translated  from  the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B. 
Anderson.  Boston:  Houghton,  Miffliu  &  Co.,  1883. 
D. 


474  ANDERSON   BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  bridal  march  and  other  stories.  By  BjOrnstjerne 
Bjornson.  Translated  from  the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B. 
Anderson.  Illustrated,  hoston:  Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co.,  1883.  201p.  D. 

Arne.  By  RjOrnstjerne  BjCrnson.  Translated  from  the 
Norse  by  Rasmus  B.  Anderson.  Boston:  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.,  1883.  200p.  D. 

A  happy  boy.  By  Bjdrnstjerne  BjOrnson.  Translated 
from  the  Norse  by  Rasmus  B.  Anderson.  Boston: 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1884.  165p.  D. 

All  Bj6rnson's  novels  bound  in  three  vols.    Price $4  50 

In  this  group  of  stories  we  have  a  distinct  addition  to  the  world's 
literature — the  exponents  of  a  high  andnoble  genius. —  The  Atlan 
tic  Monthly. 

Julegave.    Et    udvalg    af    Eventyr   og    Fortaellinger. 
.  Chicago:  John  Anderson  &  Co.,  1884.    242p.    D.    7th 
edition,  1890. 

History  of  the  literature  of  the  Scandinavian  North, 
from  the  most  ancient  times  to  the  present.  Trans 
lated  f  romjthe  Danish  of  Frederik  Winkel  Horn,  Ph.  D., 
with  a  bibliography  of  the  important  books  in  the 
English  language  relating  to  the  Scandinavian  coun 
tries,  prepared  for  the  translator  by  Thorvald  Solberg. 
Chicago:  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  1884.  ix+507p.  O. 
Price , $3.00 

Boston  Advertiser;—  Exhaustive  and  accurate.  It  is  moreover, 
pervadedfby  a  wholesome  enthusiasm  never  seriously  warping  the 
authors  judgment,  adding  much  to  the  charm  and  fresh  ness  of  his 
stvle.  There  is  an  endless  and  unlailing  tascinatioa  in  Norse  Liter 
ature. 

Mythologie  Scandinave.  Legendes  des  Eddas.  Traduc- 
tion  de  M.  Jules  Leclercq.  Paris:  Ernest  Leroux, 
1886.  x+293p.  D. 

Eminent  authors  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Literary 
portraits  by  Dr.  Georg  Brandes,  translated  from  the 
original  by  R.  H.  Anderson.  Portraits.  New  York: 
Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  1886.  vii+460p.  O.  Price..  $2.00 

Amerikas  fprste  Opdagelse.  Af  forfatteren  gjennemset 
og  autoriseret  overssettelse  ved  Fr.  Winkel  Horn. 
Portrait.  Kjobenhavn:  Gyldendalske  Hoghandels 
Forlag(P.  Hegel  &  Son),  Grsebes  Bogtrykkeri,  1886. 
8jp.  O.* 


ANDERSON   BIBLIOGRAPHY.  475 

Nordisk  mythplogi  af  R.  B.  Anderson.  De  Forenede 
Staters  Ministerresident  i  Kjdbenhavn.  OverseBttelse 
efter  originalens  4de  oplag  ved  Dr.  Fr.  Winkel  Horn. 
Kristiania:  Albert  Cammermeyer,  1887.  xvi+480p. 
O.*  With  steel  portrait  and  biographical  sketch  of 
the  author. 

The  religion  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians.  From  Horn- 
iletic  Magazine,  v.  16, 1887,  pp.  1-6, 69-76. 

Non-Biblical  systems  of  religion.  A  symposium,  by  the 
Ven.  Archdeacon  Parrar,  D.  D.;  Rev.  Canon  Rawlin- 
son,  M.  A.;  Rev.  W.  Wright,  D.  D.;  Rabbi  G.  J.  Eman- 
uel,  B.  A.;  Sir  William  Muir;  Rev.  Edwin  Johnson, 
M.  A.;  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  LL.  D.,  Ph.  D.;  The  Hon. 
Rasmus  B.  Anderson;  and  Rev.  Wm.  Nicolson,  M.  A. 
London:  James  Nisbet  &  Co.,  1887.  243p.  O.* 

Monumentet  til  Ole  Bull.    Madison,  1887.    4p.    O. 

The  Lofoden  cod  fisheries.  United  States  Consular  Re 
ports,  v.  25, 1888,  pp.  70-82. 

Market  for  American  wares  in  Denmark  and  Scandi 
navia.  Ibid.,  v.  25,  1888,  pp.  82-85. 

Die  erste  Entdeckung  von  Amerika.  Eine  historische 
skizze  der  Entdeckung  Amerikas  durch  die  Skandi- 
navier.  Autorisirte  Uebersetzung  von  Mathilde  Mann. 
Hamburg:  Verlag  von  J.  F.  Richter,  1888.  62p.  O.* 

Teutonic  mythology.  Translated  from  the  Swedish  of 
Viktor  Rydberg,  Ph.  D.,  member  of  the  Swedish 
academy,  author  of  "The  Last  Athenian,"  "Roman 
Days,"  and  other  works.  London:  Swan  Sonnen- 
schein  &  Co.,  1889.  xii+706p.  O.  Price $8.00 

From  F.  York  Powell,  Oxford,  in  Folk  Lore,  March,  1800:— This 
is  the  most  important  addition  to  our  knowledge  of  early  Teutonic 
myths  since  Grimm.  It  contains  the  most  important  work  done  in 
Northern  mythology  by  a  Scandinavian  book  during  the  last  fifty 
years. 

Among  cannibals:  an  account  of  four  years'  travels  in 
Australia  and  of  camp  life  with  the  aborigines  of 
Queensland.  By  Carl  Lumholtz.  Translated  by  Ras 
mus  B.  Anderson.  With  portraits,  maps,  4  chromo 
lithographs  and  woodcuts.  New  York:  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  1889.  xx+395p.  O.  Price $5.00 


476  ANDERSON   BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  Heirnskringla  or  the  sagas  of  the  Norse  kings,  from 
the  Icelandic  of  iSnorre  Sturlason,  by  Samuel  Laing, 
Esq.  2d  edition,  revised  with  notes  by  Rasmus  B.  An 
derson.  Plates.  Maps.  London:  John  C.  Nimmo; 
New  York:  Scribner  &  Welford,  1889.  4v.  O.  Price..  .$20.00 

From  New  York  Tribune:— The  present  edition  has  been  care 
fully  revised  by  Prof.  Anderson,  with  the  aid  of  the  latest  scholar 
ship  and  criticism,  and  the  editor's  notes  to  the  text  of  the  sagas 
apuear  to  be  sufficiently  full  and  accurate  to  bring  the  work  down 
to  a  level  with  recent  discoveries. 

Scandinavian  mythology,  the  religion  of  our  forefath 
ers.  Minneapolis,  1890.  15p.  O.  Same.  Madison, 
1892. 

Where  was  Vineland  ?  A  reply  to  Prof.  Gustav  Storm, 
refuting  his  arguments  in  favor  of  locating  Vineland 
in  Nova  Scotia,  and  maintaining  that  Columbus  was 
acquainted  with  the  Norsemen's  discovery  of  America. 
Minneapolis,  1891.  12p.  O. 

Professor  Anderson  has  also  contributed  to  the  American  supple 
ment  of  Encyclopaedia  Britannica;  to  McClintock <&  Strong^s  Cyclo 
pedia;  to  Johnson's  Cyclopedia;  to  Kiddle  <&  Schemes  Cyclopedia; 
to  the  last  edition  of  Chamber's  Cyclopedia,  to  Grilmore'ls  Cyclo 
pedia,  and  to  the  Standard  Dictionary.  He  has  been  a  frequent 
contributor,  also,  to  The  Dial  (Chicago),  to  The  Nation  (N.  Y.), 
and  to  various  other  periodicals. 

Any  of  the  above  books  with  prices  given  will  be  sent 
postage  prepaid  on  receipt  of  price  by 

B.  B.  ANDERSON,  Asgard, 

Madison,  Wis. 


GJERMUND  JOHNSON  AND  HIS  g  WIFE. 


J  OHN  EVENSON  MOLEE  AND  HIS 
WIFE  ANNE. 


NELS  SIVERSON  GILDERHUS  AND  WIFE. 


KOLBEIN  OLSON  SAUE  AND  WIFE. 


a 

1.1 


9 

° 


CAPT.  HANS  FRIIS. 


JOHAN  REINERT  REIERSON. 


MRS.  ELISE  W.ERENSKJOLD. 


O.  CANUTESON. 


-  **  mm  * 
AIRS.  BISHOP  SARA  A.  PETERSON. 


BISHOP  CANUTE  PETERSON. 


ELLING  EIELSOX. 


REV.  C.  L.  CLAUSEN. 


REV.  J.  W.  C.  DIETRICHSON. 

Photographed  by  W.  A.  Fermann,  Stoughton,  Wis. 


GULLEIK  GRAVDAHL. 


MRS.  GRAVDAHL. 


JENS  GULBRANDSON  MYHRA. 


i£ 


BERGIT  MYHRA. 


NELSON  JOHNSON. 


MRS.  NELSON  JOHNSON. 


JOHN  NELSON  LURAAS. 


MONS  K.  ADLAND. 


LARS  LARSON  (!JEILANE.) 

(From  a  daguerreotype  taken  after  his  death.) 


MARTHA  GEORGIANA  LARSON. 


HENRY  HARWICH. 


MRS.  MARTHA  J.  PATTERSON. 


OLE  JOHNSON. 


MARGARET  A.  AT  WATER. 


KNUD  LANGLAND. 


HANS  VALDER. 


MALIXDA  NELSON. 


THOMAS  A.  THOMPSON. 


PETER  NELSON  OVREBO. 


LARS  DAVIDSON  REKVE. 


OLE  NATTESTAD. 


AXSTEN  NATTESTAD. 


SARA  T.  RICKEY. 


NELS  NELSON,  JR.,  the  last  male  survivor  of 
the  sloopers,  AND  HIS  WIFE  KATHRINA. 


MRS.  SERENA  ANDERSON,  daughter  of 
THOMAS  MADLAND. 


HULDA  OLSON,  daughter  of  DANIEL  ROSSADAL, 
widow  of  RASMUS  OLSON. 


OVE   ROSDAL. 


MARTHA  HARWICK. 


LIEUT.  COL.  PORTER  C.  OLSON  (36th  Illinois). 


MRS.  INGER  MITCHELL. 


11 

3      03 

«;    >-; 

5'  £ 


S'o 


INGEBRET  LARSON  (NARVIG). 


MRS.  MARTHA  FELLOWS. 


LARS  LARSON  BRIMSOE. 


EINAR  ANDERSON  (AASEN). 


ARNOLD  ANDREW  ANDERSON. 


ABEL  CATHRINE  AMUNDSON, 


OLE  THOMPSON  EIE. 


AMUND  ANDERSON  and  his  wife 
INGEBORG  ANDERSON. 


Photographed  by  W.  A.  Fermann,  Stoughton,  Wis. 

Oak  trees  on  Juve's  farm  where  REV.  J.  W.  C.  DIETRICHSON 
preached  Sept.  2,  1844. 


RETURN 


CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

202  Main  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1  -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405 

6-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  Desk 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


KEC.CIR.  jtyfjj  ~ 

,    SEP  0  8  ?nn3 

MAY  16  1384 

.n.   rtn  lll\V    1    fi   198^ 

Rl  C  Cff  MKT  i  &  ' 

•  -  •  -"'-,"" 

rERttBRKi 

/\uo  5  '^  l^-'-; 

UNIV.  OF  CALlr,  Be 

S861  S  1  100     -wo 

tat 

.  ,  _            »    4AO7 

AUB     1  »87 

m 

[JUN  2  5  RBCD 

n 

MAY  2  9  2003 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  12/80        BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


GENERAL  LIBRARY -U.C.  BERKELEY 


Boooaoitai 


46990i 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


